How i got in to working with elite Boxers and MMA fighters

Despite the fact i've never wanted to be pigeon holed as working within one sport, it's fair to say that most people who know me through my nutrition work will do so from the work i have done with professional boxers. I have however worked with athletes across many professional sports, including: football, rugby, cycling, triathlon, long distance running, powerlifting, bodybuilding and probably  few others i've forgotten about (which reminds me, time to take my Omega 3).

With this in mind and considering i have been happy to let my public profile as a performance nutritionist take a back seat whilst i focus on developing and growing Nourish, i am still contacted for advice and consultations regularly by a wide range of people. I have however mainly focussed my limited time on working with boxers of late. The main reason being, that only having a small amount of time for client work i wanted to take on work that not only challenged me, but i could also get excited about. Work that made me want to read more journals, speak to more industry professionals to share ideas and work that i knew i'd be happy to work through the night for, to get the job done. Which is exactly what is required when working with professional boxers.

The reason for writing this article was this past week i was asked again how i got in to working with boxers and how i saw my role within the support team and more specifically what my main role was as nutritionist. The answer i gave to the latter in terms of the most important parts of my role was  "setting a diet plan, implementing performance improving strategies and weight manipulation for making the weight" Those 3 aspects cover the core of what is expected of me from a client. However, most boxers when asked will first mention the making the weight aspect, it has become the most important aspect in their minds of the nutrition plan in recent times, with fighters draining weight to fight in lighter categories than they naturally should be.

But this doesn't answer how i ended up working in this area, considering i've never fought professionally. Whilst at University studying for my nutrition degree i had already achieved a certain amount of success working with bodybuilders, again despite never competing myself. Bodybuilding is a strange sport, it is extreme, it requires the competitor to be completely self centred and yet push themselves to very dark places emotionally, they may not be getting punched  in the face but it is still a brutal sport for those who actually want to win. There is also an aspect of making a weight as they compete in weight (or height) categories. It was at this point i started to really look at the intricacies of making weight and how the body responded, i was also really getting in to nutritional biochemistry too, which helped me join a lot of dots up but also understand the 'why's' behind certain protocols success and others failures. Bodybuilding and boxing are nutritionally quite similar (thought they shouldn't be), if a professional boxer is getting nutrition advice from their coach these days they are missing a trick, the diet to make weight from my experience will be geared to weight loss, whilst ignoring performance improving strategies, while bodybuilders know they will sacrifice performance in the gym to cut weight. Many boxing coaches diets simply resemble an old school bodybuilders 'cutting' diet. My first task with a new client is always to break down their preconceptions about fat loss and show them how we can improve performance whilst still losing weight. Show them how it should really be done.

It was during my time at University that i took up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I had done a bit of Thai boxing for a couple of years and thought i'd try a new discipline. Again this was a sport where making weight was a factor of competing and whilst speaking with the BJJ coach i offered to help out the guys competing and pointed out a few issues i had overheard. Again what i discovered were guys using very outdated methods, some with no real science behind them or even logic in some cases. What i also realised was there was a culture of dismissing just how important a factor to performance this aspect could become. If you don't make weight the right way, you cannot expect to fight and perform to the best of your ability. Guys were spending hours each day the week of a competition in the sauna, whilst loading on salt, going for runs in sweat suits and thinking that this was the only way to make the weight. After working with a couple of guys who were competing and explaining to the coach how he should implement a culture more focussed on the nutrition aspect, my details were passed to an MMA coach in London to help with his fighters. Through this i began to get work with different coaches helping them set up and implement basic strategies to help their fighters make weight along with going along and overseeing the weight making process too. At the time MMA was a sport that was growing rapidly, but like today there's still very little money in it at the bottom, but the fighters fight because they love the sport and they want to improve in anyway they can. This was a perfect environment for me, being around people who wanted to learn and who appreciated having professional advice on board. I found the coaches i worked with to be very forward thinking too. Whilst there are ego's aplenty, the coaches are often specialist, so they respect what others can bring to the table. Whilst i was travelling around working with different coaches and their fighters the money wasn't great and whilst this has never been a factor for me, my main money source was coming from working with athletes within the growing physique type competitions as well as bodybuilders, at this time i was very much cherry picking who i worked with, because i could. This was an area i found very easy to work in and it's fair to say unless i was working on a huge transformation or with someone expected to win a competition it didn't really challenge me enough.

At this stage i began to work with a few amateur boxers, one's who were looking to turn professional through a coach i had been introduced to at an MMA event. I had already worked with a couple of UK professional boxers at the time and my network and contacts was growing and it was then i met a coach from America who had brought his MMA fighters over to the UK to train with a couple of fighters i'd worked with. I was fortunate to be introduced to him and from there my details were passed to a couple of boxing coaches in America. I then began advising boxers in both the UK and America and soon picked up a couple of clients in Europe too, throughout this my links all came from recommendation by coaches and fighters i had worked with, rather than a social media presence. It was a time where the importance of nutrition was filtering down to boxing, a sport which does seem to be a good few years behind when it comes to sports science. A perfect example of this is the lack of education coming from the british board of boxing control in comparison to say the football or rugby associations, who heavily invest in education.

It was in 2012 when i began working with Kell Brook, at which point my profile and the subsequent boom in social media meant i became more recognised for my work in boxing. It is fair to say that if you know and understand boxing you would be aware that Kell was known for struggling with making the weight, but whilst working alongside and S&C coach the process, once adhered to yielded excellent results both in terms of improved performance and recovery and as Kell was well on his way to becoming what he is today there was the obvious press interest, of which i wasn't always happy about (face for radio) but cannot deny it helped my profile. Since finishing working with Kell in 2013 i have worked with a number of boxers from amateurs to professionals, from all over the world too and have been involved on many different levels, some require more work than others and the service i offer very much comes down to what i feel is required to meet the clients expectations. What i always ensure is that i work a way in which i am happy with. Nutrition is a huge passion of mine, as is helping people, but i have found the quickest to lose passion is to work a way in which doesn't suit me. I happily admit i'm not suited to working with everyone and not every client relationship has ended happily!

When studying nutrition my intention was always to go down the public health route, i wanted to be able to work in an area that could help as many people as possible, but as this became near impossible due to government cuts when i was graduating, i found myself able to make a positive difference in sports i had a huge passion for. Combining my passion for nutrition and interest in these sports has been something i am immensely proud of, as are my achievements in nutrition, considering when i begged my way on to my nutrition degree my only scientific studies had been GCSE level.

I simply fell in to working with boxers and MMA fighters, i never set out with a plan to work in this field, but my natural enthusiasm, professionalism and ability to make a positive difference are what kept me progressing as a nutritionist and within the sports. Overall there have been many positives and some negatives too, but it has also been very satisfying to see the positive impact i have made.

As for the future, it is likely i'll focus more time on Nourish, pick my jobs and clients wisely and maybe even look at focussing more time on clients within different sports again. But one things for sure, i'll still always be following and working with MMA and boxing.

Canelo Alvarez Vs Amir Khan - How much difference will the weight make?

It's fair to say that not many people saw this fight coming, but like many it is definitely one i am excited about. Having become, like many other boxing fans, quite despondent over the direction of Khan's career especially in light of his refusal to grant the UK fight fans the fight we all really wanted to see against Kell Brook, i can now say that i am firmly back on the Khan fan train and i would love to see an upset against Canelo.

However, there are some real issues and concerns regarding this fight as boxing can be quite a brutal sport. The key questions relate to the weight difference and what the affect of that could be with Canelo known for coming in up to 20lbs heavier than what he officially weighs in at. There's also the power difference too, Canelo showed against James Kirkland he can really bang and that was against a natural middleweight too. Can Khan really stand up to that power? Well with his questionable chin many believe this will be an easy night for Canelo and will be over as soon as he connects with any real venom.

Compare this to Khan who's power is questionable as well as the fact he is really coming up from light welterweight having only ever fought at 147lbs against Collazo the only true welterweight and then Alexander who was really a light welterweight and Algieri who again was really a light welterweight. This shows how big a step up this is for Khan and whilst there were concerns about him making light welterweight himself and growing in to the 147b division the question remains as to whether he can really hang with a powerful big hitting guy at the heavier weight, so far that has been left unanswered and what a fight for him to have to answer all of these questions!

Some will argue that Mayweathers speed and agility/reflexes made Canelo look flat footed, even lacking ideas and at times easy to hit but Khan is not Mayweather and he's also not shown the consistent discipline needed to strategically beat an opponent with many advantages over him. Khan's speed will no doubt be his key advantage but as with any boxer moving up in weight and going from 147b to 155b is a big jump then Khan will lose some of his speed.

From a nutritionist point of view Khan will not have to endure the lengthy dieting which can seriously affect a boxers performance, with his nutrition being more focussed on performance aspect such as strength, fitness and recovery it's fair to assume Khan will enjoy this training camp a lot more. It would be expected though that his nutritionist and S&C team have monitored him enough to be able plan out and measure progress to ensure he's not slowing down with the extra weight, the blueprint of speed being key against Canelo is there from Mayweather, Angulo and Lara. Khan's team need to ensure that he carrie more power but his speed remains. You would also expect that Khan will come in at the weight easy without the drying out process. Whilst many boxers with a good drying out protocol under the guidance of a nutritionist should not feel any negative affects from dropping up to 8% of their body weight to make the weight those who struggle or think once they've made the weight they can eat what they want are the one's who will suffer come the second half of a fight. The weight draining undertaken by Canelo has been questioned as a reason for him sometimes labouring through the final rounds of a fight.

Having worked with many boxers and understanding the key aspects of making weight the safe way as well as knowing of many who make it the wrong way my belief is that if there is a check weigh in requested from the Khan camp for the next day then Canelo may in fact slow down in the latter rounds. If Khan can keep on the move in the early rounds, make Canelo miss and catch him with counters then take control with his superior speed and conditioning in the latter rounds then he may just be able to win.

So from a nutritionist point of view this fight makes for very interesting viewing, with 13 weeks to go i'm sure their nutrition and S&C teams already have their plans in place. Ideally Canelo will make the weight comfortably and regain the weight sensibly from drying out and Khan's speed and conditioning will be improved through a less restrictive diet and we, the fans will see 2 of the best fighters around at their peaks come May 7th.

We are either going to see Canelo steamroll and KO Khan who struggled to adapt with the extra weight early or Khan will make it interesting and take Canelo in to the late rounds to see if he can hang with real speed and counters for 12 rounds.

For British fight fans i'd love to see Khan take this one and set up the fight against Brook, someone who surely only has a handful of fights left at 147lb himself.

Nobody ever got fat from eating too much fruit

Recently there has been a spate of negativity surrounding fruit, fat loss and obesity with the majority of it being negative, this article especially from the daily mail insinuated that fruit, is in fact 'fuelling the obesity' epidemic. daily mail article i wouldn't bother reading

The studies often cited in such articles are actually discussing fructose syrup which is found in soft drinks and processed foods, which you just have to ask yourself why are you even eating these foods in the first place, cut these foods out and you cut out the dangers of eating too much fructose in it's syrup form. Common sense really.

There's also been a 'hate' campaign against fruit in the performance nutrition field as well as from the physique consultant aspect of the market recently with some of the more vocal twitter guru's insisting fruit should be banned from the diet as you cannot lose fat with fruit in the diet.

One of the key studies cited when discussing fructose in the diet is one which compared 2 groups, one eating a high carb diet with a large portion from fructose and the other group eating a large portion of their carbohydrates from glucose. The fructose group gained predominantly visceral stomach fat (intra-abdominal fat) whereas the glucose group gained mostly subcutaneous fat which is just below the skin and easier to lose. Point of note: Visceral fat is associated with a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes. As well as the fat deposition the study also showed that during exercise when ingesting more fructose in the diet the body burns more carbohydrates initially during training than fat. Then there's the issue of insulin intensity which fructose has been shown to negatively affect. Insulin sensitivity is important as it is a key factor in how efficiently the body deals with carbohydrates.

So how and why does this happen?

Well fructose is processed in the liver and when there's an excess it is converted to fat which is then sent in to the blood stream, elevating blood triglyceride levels and it is this which causes an increase in LDL levels (bad cholesterol) and the decrease in insulin sensitivity, which as outlined above is not a good thing, it's important to note that high visceral fat (again outlined above) is linked to low insulin sensitivity too.

As you can see there is fair evidence to show that fructose specifically can have adverse effects if too much is consumed in an environment where too many calories are also consumed and that if eating it before training it can impair fat oxidisation.

However as with all things nutrition it is very much about context. It has become increasingly obvious to me that my job is simply about matching up the dots within clients diets, ironing out the consistent bad habits and replacing with consistently good dietary habits.

So is eating fruit really a bad habit? Of course it is not but add to the fact that not all fruits have the same nutritional profile and it's hard to understand why some feel a need to class 'all fruits as bad' anyway. It's actually a great habit to be eating a variety of fruit regularly. The problem arises when guru's, quacks and shit newspapers/magazines (i'd rather take advice on inter-racial gay marriage from the daily mail than their health advice) hand out advice based on research they don't really understand and are unable to present the context properly to improve the education of their audience. I will never understand why some people feel a need to speak on matter of which they do not understand, neither will i understand why some magazines and newspapers wish to lower their credibility by publishing sensationalist stories on nutrition, surely they should all be considering their social responsibility, however that's another article in itself.

The very simple fact is that people who are overweight did not get there by eating too much fruit, it is more than likely they got there by not eating enough fruit, simply because if they had eaten more fruit they would have more than likely had a much healthier set of dietary principles all round.

Fruit has many benefits, including being rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants; rich in fibre, a quick and easy snack and it can help satisfy any sweet cravings. It also tastes great and is very versatile so i don't know why everyone wouldn't want the variety and benefits from fruits in their diet.

So how should you approach fruit?

If you're overweight and have no intention of changing your diet apart from adding fruit to your diet, then apart from being extremely stupid, don't, obviously as you're just adding more calories, if however you are looking for healthy snacks to replace the cans of fizzy drink, bag of crisps and chocolate bar then yes, choose fruit as a replacement.

If you're looking to get in to single digit body fat and your metabolism is shot due to months of dieting then you're unlikely to be able to cope with fruit and achieve your goal, this is from my experience of working with fitness models and bodybuilders who eliminate carbs as soon as they start a diet for a show/shoot, sometimes months out!

If you're a performance athlete then fruit can easily be accommodated in your diet as it is likely and should be the case that your overall calorific turnover is high anyway. Should you be a performance athlete that has to make weight then you'll have to be conscious of your overall calorie intake and you may wish to choose to limit fruit in your diet in order help you cut the calories.

If however you want to eat a healthy varied diet, high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants then include fruit in your diet when you fancy it, however if you're changing your diet to lose weight then simply opt for fruits with lower fructose content such as avocado, berries, grapefruit, pineapple, lemons and limes and limit the amount of high fructose fruits which include; bananas, apples, pears, grapes, melons, cherries and prunes. Most other fruits have a moderate fructose content, so only eat a moderate amount. If you simply opt for the lower fructose options for the bulk of your fruit intake you'll never have a problem anyway.

Take home message:
Fruit is not just pure fructose, it is also high in water content and fibre, most fruits per piece will still have a relatively small amount of fructose and carbohydrates, therefore use common sense, fruit is not bad, too much of anything is bad when you're overeating anyway and there are many other foods you should be eliminating from your diet before you vilify fruit.

Here's the research i refer to in this article:  Cox, C., Stanhope, K., et al. Consumption of Fructose-Sweetened Beverages for 10 Weeks Reduces Net Fat Oxidation and Energy Expenditure in Overweight/Obese Men and Women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. September 2011

Chia Seed dessert

While away on training camp with Kell Brook the diet focus is always on performance food and weight loss, however that doesn't mean it has to be boring and bland. I'm always looking for ways to make the meals interesting and full of flavour and yet keep them within the macronutrient requirements for the day as well as sticking to the key diet principles of lean and clean.

I have over 8000 recipes on my pc, some days i simply sit when i have an hour looking for recipes with key foods and add them to my folders so i always have options and recipes to try out when my diet gets a little boring. When it comes to dieting myself i miss dessert, i have a sweet tooth which i can ignore but i don't feel like i should, therefore i look for healthy alternatives and with this Chia Seed recipe i definitely found one!

Chia Seeds are a great food and very versatile, some of the benefits include:

• high omega 3 content 
• good protein content with19 essential amino acids
• high in fibre
• good source of calcium and iron
• low in carbohydrates

Now the protein and omega 3 content can be debated as the absorption of these may not be great compared to say oily fish for omega 3 or chicken for protein but the important point is they're a seed and their content is a bonus to what is already a very healthy product.

As mentioned they're also very versatile, for this recipe you leave them to soak as the seeds form in to a gelatinous mix.

Chia Seed dessert:

2tbspn chia seeds

1/3 can of coconut milk

1teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon honey

Method:

Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix together, leave in fridge for at least 30 minutes and then split in to 4 servings.

Here's the macro breakdown for 4 servings:

Calories: 352kclas

Protein: 4g

Carbohydrates: 26g

Fat: 27g

I added a tablespoon of blueberry quark too as i needed to use it up, got to say this was a great dessert enjoyed by Kell, Dave Hembrough and myself!

Here's a photo i took of mine!

I will be adding fruit such as blueberries and cherries next time i make this.

As always any thoughts you have on this let me know!

David

Book review - Mike Dolce 'Living Lean'

Book review – The Dolce diet – Living Lean

Mike Dolce is arguably the go to guy when it comes to nutrition and making weight for mma fighters and as I have worked with quite a few mma fighters in prep for their fights I admired how he had positioned himself and his client base. However what put me off buying the book was what I’d read on forums about it, that it was nothing of note and that many of Dolce’s claims in the book about what he’d achieved were actually massively overblown and it was mainly an ego flexing book and not a worthy nutrition book. Still, following Dolce on twitter and Facebook I thought while away on a training camp I’d be able to sit down and give it a good read (it took me a mere 2 hours!) and for only £6.23 on Kindle I chanced it wouldn’t be a great loss and I’d maybe pick a few nuggets of advice I could use or try myself, after all I’d read 3 weeks to shredded and liked some of the principles such as mindfully goal setting and writing goals down to encourage progress, both of which are good tools everyone dieting can utilise to good effect.

First of all it should be made clear that this book is not specifically aimed at fighters at all, if anything it is merely a book for the average person to who needs a nudge in the right direction or needs some fresh diet ideas to kick processed foods out of their diet and just wants to lose weight, nothing wrong with that right? Well it wouldn’t make a good book review if I wasn’t slightly honest about just how I felt about it, would it.

So the book starts with Mike Dolce’s life story, from his childhood and how he was inspired by the magazines featuring arnie, frank zane et al and his family’s poor health to hit the gym. It’s here that the tone is set, Mike Dolce reminds me of the kid who wanted to be liked by everyone, some things may have happened but all stories you take with a rock of salt because nobody is that awesome, but this book is about ‘Living Lean’ right so let’s not dwell on my opinion of the author too much.

The book’s first 6 chapters are all about Dolce, I’ll save you the time of reading them, he’s fricken awesome bro….  as he’d have you believe. As the book gets to the real important bits of educating you on diet and helping you plan meals around your daily activities, the paragraphs and chapters become smaller and the content a little less catchy. All of a sudden it seems Mike Dolce ran out of things to say.

The diet principles Dolce preaches are great though, however they are nothing more than Paleo principles and we all know that cutting out processed foods is a very positive step to losing weight and you must be creative with food if you’re to ‘live lean’ as boredom easily overrides good health in nutrition these days, hence we reach for a high fat/high sugar snack all too often. Eating clean is a huge part of controlling calories BUT Dolce like many others states calories don’t count. This is where it becomes obvious this book is not aimed at anyone competing in sports at all, calories really do count if you’ve got to make a specific weight (that’s for another article though). Switching from eating what is now a standard diet for most people to the principles Dolce instils will help you lose weight, it will make you feel better physically and mentally too because you’ll be taking control back of your diet and eating much better foods. But that’s a no brainer surely, this is nothing new. Stop eating crap and prepare your meals, cook them yourself and eat a wide variety and you will function better than if you ate highly processed foods.

The meal plans outlined in the book are scarce, there’s just the 1. So that’s one meal plan for every person reading it, the same meal plan for those 100lbs overweight and the one’s 10lbs overweight. That ignores so many variables you need to consider when dieting, added to the fact he gives you no inclination on how to manipulate these factors and again it shows the real information needed is a little light. It’s the same with the recipes, although it’s now apparent why this is so as Dolce has released a new book titled ‘Living Lean – Cookbook’ with all of his recipes in them, which you're expected to buy, the recipes however will be easy to find on the many Paleo blogs.

So on to the training section, which is quite comprehensive, however for anyone that trains skip to the dumbbell deadlift photo demonstration for a quick look at what’s in store!

The routine’s look simple enough, there’s reference to an mma HIIT training sessions which must have been thrown in there to add some credibility. It doesn’t though. The training plans are nothing new, easy to follow and will get results to a certain extent as most readers will be sedentary and any sort of training os better than no training, just ask the P90X fans about that. in Living Lean however there’s no overall training plan or advice on how to structure your week. There’s also zero mention of pre or post workout nutrition which I find really odd considering the proven scientific research out there on these hotly debated areas of performance nutrition and Dolce’s positioning in MMA.

So there you have it, my view on Mike Dolce’s Living Lean book. There are some great principles for the average person in there but that’s it, there’s not much you can actually take from the book. Eat healthy non-processed foods and get creative in the kitchen, that’s about it.

The rest is about Mike himself, who obviously likes himself and is proud of what he’s done, maybe if he didn’t choose this path he would be selling second hand cars, that’s the impression I get of him.

I would recommend ‘The Paleo diet for athletes: a nutritional formula for peak athletic performance’ for fighters or athletes who are looking to drop weight and get in shape. This is a much better resource than the dolce diet.

For anyone else looking to eat well based on the same principles as Mike Dolce then look no further than the 1000’s of blogs out there on the Paleo principles of eating.  Rob Wolff would be a great start point.

As always I welcome your comments.

Next up will be The Renegade Diet by Jason Ferruggia 

Total Body Development Online Transformation Package

Online transformation package

What is it?

The Total Body Development online transformation package is a step-by-step training and nutrition plan for you to follow to achieve your fat loss goals. This is a way for you to receive guidance from me to achieve your goals at a fraction of what I would charge for my personal client services.

Who is it for?

Anyone who wants to get in shape but doesn’t know where to start or has become a little lost with his or her training. You can view it as a kick in the right direction as you will be eating healthier and training smarter, which will lead to great results in only a short space of time. Alternatively if you’re trying to get in the best shape you can as quick as possible you will also benefit from this package

What will you get?

In short a fool proof plan to get you in shape, no fad diets or ridiculous exercises, just a plan that works. This is a full step-by-step nutrition; supplement and training plan to follow along with support from both myself and other respected trainers and health professionals. You will also receive encouragement from others who are taking part in the programme as well as many of my past clients.

What can you expect?

Encouragement, sweat and results above everything else. You will be pushed hard to do the best you can but I also understand we all react differently to dieting and training hard, I’ve witnessed many people succeed but also many people fail, so I know what to look for and how to push people to get the best results they can.

What does it cost?

For the initial 6-week programme the total cost is £150, if after this period you wish to carry on with guidance then you can do so for £50 per month. In comparison to my 1:1 client packages, which cost in excess of £1000 this is a great way to utilise my knowledge and experience to help you achieve your goals. If you stick to the plan and are not happy at the end then I will refund you your money back, I am that confident that this work, simply because I have used it with so many people now.

What next?

To get started simply send me a message through my Facebook group
Total Body Development Page and I will send you the getting started questionnaire

Final Point…

If you’ve been a member of a gym or using a PT for some time but the look in the mirror and number on the scales doesn’t seem to be changing then this is a sure fire way to change that and give you the knowledge to be a healthier, fitter, stronger and above all else look better. This is Total Body Development.

Remember if you’re not happy with the results I will give you all of your money back.

Know your macros

Know your macros

Here’s a quick article on the key benefits of each macronutrient for your training. Many people get hung up on eliminating certain macronutrients however the reality is they have their place in everyone’s diet, the key thing is to find which ratio suits you and your body type best to assist with your training to achieve your goals.

Protein – the building blocks of muscle, protein from the diet increases protein synthesis within the body and also improves recovery from training. Also worth noting for when dieting is that protein is thermogenic meaning it causes greater fat loss. Increased muscle mass, improving performance and recovery are the key benefits of protein from the diet.

Carbohydrates – the single most affected macro when dieting, to cut or not is usually the question and as outlined this depends on the individual, no one size fits all. The role of carbohydrates is to increase muscle glycogen for energy and also spare dietary and muscle protein from being used as energy so they can be used for their main role as outlined above, after all to create a physique to be proud of you need to let protein do it’s job, carbohydrates allow this to happen optimally.

Fats – the main role of fats in the diet is at cellular level and for energy, again it is protein sparing but is also key for all the hormonal responses created through your training. EFA’S also need to be consumed, as they cannot be synthesized in the body.

Make yourself a winner - As featured in Alpha Fit issue 4

There is nothing particularly different about the kind of nutrition you need to become a super athlete. It’s just a case of having the willpower and following David Stache’s four golden rules.

I am often asked what the differences are between the diets I write for elite athlete clients and those of the average gym user wanting to perform or look better. The truth is the same foods work for both – there are no secret foods that elite athletes are eating, nor are there any supplements they have access to that your average gym user cannot get access to. However there are differences between elite and non-elite that I see too often when it comes to nutrition. Here is an overview of those differences.

1. Consistency is the key
This is the number one difference and without doubt the biggest issue when it comes to diet. Eating consistently well brings results – there is no doubt about that. Sticking to a diet requires willpower, but when that diet brings you results that earn you a living, the willpower struggle diminishes. If your salary depended on eating the right foods and sticking to a diet, I’m sure you would.

2. Understand how food works
Either the athlete or their nutritionist they work with will have a good understanding of why they are eating specific foods, why their meal timings are set out as they are and what the implications are of straying from the diet. I’m not saying you have to have a qualification in nutrition, but an understanding of at least what foods are needed and when will improve your performance. [Keeping up with AlphaFit should be a good way to start if you are not sure – Ed.]

3. Plan, plan, plan
Lack of planning: After consistency this is the biggest issue I see for results not coming quick enough. If you don’t plan your foods out and take the time you will stray from your diet. As a good friend Chris Evers – one of the most committed gym members I have – commented: “The engagement with food and the time and the effort you have to put in has to go up if you are to be the best you can be.” To really be the best you have to live the life in the kitchen too.

4. Don’t forget about micronutrients
So often I see how yoing guys are using a protein powder, creatine and a pre-workout formula but completely ignore micronutrients either from their diet or from supplements. At the very least you should use a multivitamin. Other micronutrients such as zinc and Vitamin D are excellent for both body composition and sports performance, yet these are often ignored too. Contrast this with the elite and they will at the very least be covering all bases either through food or supplementation. I recently ran my own mini-research in to zinc deficiency of 37 males who bought a tub of protein. Some 28 were deficient in zinc, yet only four bought zinc supplements. Begs the question: why did they bother with any supplements?

There’s nothing radical there. All these are just behaviours which elite athletes adhere to and that is what sets them apart in terms of their diet from the average gym user.
So what does it take to be the best? Well, apart from genetics and great skill, the importance of nutrition is not to be underestimated. If you’re not planning out your diet then you won’t ever be the best you can be as you will never see where you could improve. This is integral to constant progress.
So try and implement the above key differences for three months and you will be surprised how much progress you will make.
Follow David on Twitter @totalbd or on his website www.totalbodydevelopment.co.uk.