Sports Injuries and Nutrition

I was chatting with Nutritional Therapist Caren Richards again recently about nutrition and whether it can help to heal the body quicker post injury, here's what Caren had to say:

Despite the numerous health benefits of physical exercise, any form of activity does, unfortunately, increase the risk of physical trauma. Whilst your doctor / physiotherapist / chiropractor / osteopath will provide advice on the best way to treat your injury there are some dietary interventions that may help to optimise the body’s healing process. A qualified Nutritional Therapist can help you with a diet and supplements that are most appropriate for your specific injuries but here are a few ideas that might help.

Most injuries are accompanied by inflammation and although we sometimes perceive this as a negative reaction, it is actually a protective and restorative response by the body either to rid itself of foreign invaders or to repair itself. It is only when inflammation becomes excessive or uncontrolled that we may begin to see delayed healing.

Testimonial: triathlete in Abu Dhabi

I just received the testimonial below from a coached triathlete based in Abu Dhabi and had to share it with you!

Being one of WhittleFit's coached athletes has reinvigorated my passion for fitness. I had a disastrous result at an event of which I hadn't trained for, always thinking I could just 'turn up' on the day, and I decided that I was fed up of being slightly average! This is where WhittleFit came to the rescue.  Now, after 3 months of structured, personalised and incremental coaching I have become fitter and stronger than I have ever been. I provided the motivation and the determination, and WhittleFit gave me the plan for guaranteed success. Training has become part of my day, rather than squeezing it in. My stage one result was a cracking time in a sprint triathlon, coming in the top 20% of the entire field and 9th in my age group.  I now have the confidence to train for longer distances and quicker times of which I know I will achieve- I couldn't recommend WhittleFit highly enough.

If you'd like to know more about distance coaching for triathlon, running or cycling contact us NOW!  

Periodisation for triathletes: putting the theory into action

In part 3 of my periodisation for triathletes series, I talk about how you can put the theory into practice and design a periodised training schedule for your own triathlon training.

We've already looked at the different types of periodised training (part 1) and the individual phases of a macrocycle for triathletes (part 2).

Now it's time to get personal and think about how you can use your knowledge of periodisation to build your own thoughtful training programme.

Why should you work to a periodised training schedule? The benefits of a periodised approach are widely recognised by coaches and athletes across a range of activities from endurance to strength and power sports.

Periodisation for triathletes: a closer look at the phases of periodised training

In part 2 of my periodisation for triathletes series, we'll be delving into the separate phases of periodisation and discussing why (and how) they are relevant to triathletes.

Last month, we took an introductory look at periodisation (you can read part 1 of my periodisation for triathletes series here), macrocycles, mesocycles and microcycles, and the different phases of a macrocycle.

It's time to take a closer look at those phases and begin to understand why they're so beneficial to endurance athletes like triathletes.

General preparation: A fundamental part of a large-scale training plan. Depending on the athlete's fitness levels and the scale of the goal race, this phase could take up 75% of the entire macrocycle. That's not to say that it's easy, boring or repetitive. General preparation focuses on cardiovascular training to progressively build a safe base level of fitness through all disciplines. But how we go about this will depend on the athlete's existing fitness level, sporting background, injuries and imbalances, skill levels and experience. It's an important part of the training programme which can't be rushed. From my point of view, it enables athlete and coach to get to know each other and develop habits, routines and communication techniques which will make the coaching partnership successful.