|
Competition In The Kitchen
One of the biggest challenges for any athlete re-locating to a central training hub or when away on training camp is that of change in lifestyle. Nutrition can be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to lifestyle management, particularly in the case of younger athletes who may be used to having meals pre-prepared or cooked for them at home or in school. Suddenly they are placed into an environment where they are expected to prepare foods and snacks which match their training needs, often without the necessary cooking skills or thought processes behind this task. This was highlighted recently by the Sports Science team at World Class Lifting under the guidance of Brian Cunniffe.
Given that athletes are now relocating to Leeds or on training camps of long duration, it was recognised that some athletes needed to learn the basics in terms of how, what and when to eat. Recently, the athletes have been asked to pre prepare meals from select food lists provided by WCL nutritionist Martin MacDonald and guided in food preparation in the form of cooking classes lead by Leeds Met Univ nutrition interns Kate Wadkin and Emma Tester. Speaking on behalf of the group, Brian highlighted the success of the program so far stating that “the athletes have enjoyed the various challenges posed to them” and “taken on board all the nutritional and cooking advice, resulting in some terrific meals enjoyed by everyone”. He stated that the group hopes to continue this work as more athletes move to Leeds over the summer period and depending on length of athlete stay, involve “supermarket tours” to aid athletes in both budgeting and selecting the best foods. While the program is not run on the famous TV series f word format, athlete meals are nevertheless graded (0-5) on select criteria set out by the nutrition team. Below are some pictures of the type of meals the athletes have been preparing so far.
 
|
|
Last Updated on Thursday, 03 June 2010 08:42 |
