This was held at the Teagasc facility at Moorepark near Fermoy on Wednesday the 10th of December and attracted a large crowd of about 200 or so people.
The talk was broken down into three presentations...
‘Biology of Fitness’ covering a discussion on food, fitness and diets
Dr. Niall Moyna, School of Health and Human Performance from DCU and a regular on the RTE Operation Transformation programme.
Introducing nutritional concepts to Children and Adolescents
Dr. Sharon Madigan, DBSM Health Centre of Excellence
What does all of this have to do with Teagasc?
Dr. Paul Cotter, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark
This was followed by a Q&A session with those that gave the talk and several athletes representing various sports.
Some of the key points from the talk were....
A case study showed how the CK levels (Creatine Kinase) in an athlete built up over a few days because of muscle damage. The person in question was over training and didn't allow enough rest to recover properly. This can be common with say people training for triathlons, playing too many matches or playing multiple sports. Rest is a vital component of proper training.
Another case study showed how an athlete was trying to keep their weight down by reducing their calorie intake but the net result was that they couldn't train properly. It's all about finding a balance. If you train hard then you need to eat enough quality food to compensate.
In terms of foods to eat for optimal performance, it was basically just normal healthy food with a balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat. As most people know, avoid junk foods and concentrate on healthy food.
Just points of concern raised were....
a) Children and teenagers playing multiple sports and over training.
b) The use of 'fat burners' to lose weight. Again, there are no short cuts. Exercise and a moderate intake of calories are key.
c) Over training leading to a suppressed immune system and athletes getting sick as a result.
These are some of the links that were highlighted for more info...
https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/home
https://www.indi.ie/fact-sheets/fact-sheets-on-sports-nutrition.html
It was a fantastic presentation. Really informative, and interesting.
ReplyDeleteReally enjoyed it, and even picked up a few really good points for quality training and fueling! And the most important points were to Keep it Simple, and that Recovery days are key!!