We spoke to 每日吃瓜's Performance Nutrition Lead, Andy Shepherd, about what athletes are likely to be doing in the final days before stepping onto the world stage.
Explaining what tapering is and the impact it can have on an athlete’s body, Andy said:
“Tapering is essentially about creating the best possible opportunity for an athlete, to do their best event, in the best moment of their career. Whether that's the Commonwealth Games or another major international competition, the aim is to reduce the total load - either by reducing intensity or volume – to create the opportunity to rest for the athletes.
“Taper varies massively, even within the same sport. Some athletes may only need a very short period of rest and only have one or two days, while others may have three to four weeks. You often see different variations of taper based on musculature, power-based events or endurance events.”
Discussing the challenges both athletes and nutritionists can face during this period, Andy gives some insight into what they might focus on.
“As they reduce training intensity or volume, we also need to reduce the impact of nutrition. Reducing the total volume of food consumed is often the way we would go, but we need to be really smart as to not under-fuel them.
“It’s often a delicate balance. We’re changing small things that can have noticeable effects, and it can be easy to lose track. One of the things we focus on are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory markers. They can reduce adaptions during normal training, but during a recovery phase such as taper, we’re looking to make sure the athlete is as rested as possible. We might go with things that are really vibrant, bright pinks, purples and reds, like cherries and berries. We also look at anti-inflammatory options, things like omega-3 oily fish, chia seeds and flax seeds, and then we would stick to their normal consumption of protein.”
Andy also discussed the importance of ensuring that athletes still enjoy their food and are not left feeling unhappy due to hunger.
“Athletes will often continue to consume similar types of foods, but adjustments may be made to meal patterns and volume. However, feeling really hungry and not happy is a great risk, so we must make educated and informed decisions.
“We can avoid hunger by changing their plate. For example, an athlete in a high intensity moment might be fuelling with a plate that’s half filled with carbohydrates, a quarter vegetable and a quarter protein. We might swap that to being over half a plate of vegetables, which will give them less calories but make them feel fuller for longer."
He also explained how getting the right balance with nutrition is crucial for an athlete’s mindset, particularly in the last few days leading up to a major competition.
“It can also be pretty miserable. Food is a social opportunity, so we want to try and make eating fun and enjoyable still.
“The last 24 to 48 hours before a competition should be about consistency of foods and habits that they enjoy and know works for them in both training and competition. The biggest thing they should focus on during this time though is forgetting about the fact that they've been on taper and thinking ahead to the event that's coming up.”
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ENDS
For further comments or interview requests with Andy Shepherd, please email the PR team or call 01509 222224.