Rediscover Dairy

Dairy Kids
Dairy Gives You Go

ALL ABOUT SPORT

Elsabe Janse van Noordwyk

Primary treatment for soft tissue injuries is RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation).
If more severe see your GP.
Remember returning back to your sport too soon can increase your risk of re-injury or developing a chronic problem.

Elsabe Janse van Noordwyk

How to minimise injury is a million dollar question?

We already know the following:

  • Be physically conditioned to play a sport – you do not play a sport to get strong, you get strong to play a sport.
  • Wear the right gear and clothing.
  • Work out a training programme with rest days.
  • Warm up and cool down properly.
  • Avoid playing when very tired and/or in pain.

Elsabe Janse van Noordwyk

A “recovery” or “rest day” is the time when the body adapts to the stress of exercise, it allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissue (muscle breakdown). It depends on many factors to determine how often and how long it should be. The rest period depends on the type of sport and also if you are in the conditioning, pre-competition or competition phase. The rest period during these phases can be one day to a week. To ensure complete recovery, there should be a rest period at the end of one season to the next as much as 4 – 6 weeks. While resting the body recovers and therefore diminishes the risk of injury.

Lize Havemann-Nell

Nutrition can play an important role during recovery, especially during the first hour following an exercise session to replace muscle glycogen stores, replace sweat losses, stimulate muscle protein synthesis and enhance muscle recovery. On rest days per se, the focus should be on nutritious foods that are high in fibre and micronutrients rather than energy dense ‘sports foods’ that can contribute to weight gain if the additional calories are not used.

Nickie de Villiers

What an athlete considers as rest time is actually the time in which the body build new structures and support systems as part of the adaptation process. Sure you want your body to do the best work it can, therefore what you give the body (through food), can determine the quality of the work that the body will do for you. The principles therefore would be to eat quality, fresh food with lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean meat and dairy and keep to a regular schedule of eating. Still concentrate on adequate water intake. Now is sure not the time to give in to binge eating or junk food. A small treat here and there is not a sin, but what they say: Junk in, junk out.

Pippa Mullins

Most of the adaptations (i.e. becoming fitter, stronger or faster) from an exercise session occur in the rest or recovery period. Providing your body with the nutrients it needs, will further help to stimulate these training adaptations.

Pippa Mullins

A supplement is useful if the athlete cannot include certain foods or food groups in their diet for reasons such as allergies, intolerances etc. However, they are not essential. Sports supplements such as shakes, recovery drinks, gels, bars etc. are often more convenient for the athlete when used correctly, however even these are not always necessary.

Lize Havemann-Nel

Apart from carbohydrate energy drinks, gels, and bars (also termed ‘sport foods’) that can play a role especially during endurance events to maintain normal blood sugar levels, the efficacy of the majority of other supplements can’t be backed up by scientific evidence. In my opinion, apart from a few exceptions, supplements in general are a foe!

Nicki de villiers

Supplements are never a necessity, but they can maybe make life easier for the athlete that needs to eat great volumes of food. Is the nutritional value that the athlete gets from supplements any BETTER than that in food? The answer is NO. It is therefore not vital to use supplements, unless:

  • the athlete is eating too little (at a great energy deficit),
  • is eliminating certain foods or food groups from their diet,
  • is recovering from illness or is just an overall fussy eater.

In these conditions, the athlete may consider supplementation but must pay careful consideration to their nutritional goals prior to committing to supplement use.

 

Lize Havemann-Nel

Consume enough energy in the form of carbohydrate before and during a strength training session to fuel the training. Also consume a good quality protein (containing 20-25 gram of protein) with a source of carbohydrates within 30-60 minutes after a strength training session to maximise muscle protein synthesis.

Nicki de Villiers

To achieve optimal results with strength training (to increase muscle mass), you need to be in a positive energy balance, which means your energy intake from food should be higher than the energy output. You should try to spread your meals throughout the day with the consumption of 5 or more smaller meals rather than to stick to three meals. Try to balance the main meals to consist of a starch source, a protein source and some vegetables and the snacks to include a fruit or a starch, but also a protein source. Your protein need will be a bit higher, but can be met through food intake. The distribution of protein throughout the day seems beneficial with the intake of a protein and / or dairy source with every meal or snack taken, e.g. milk, cheese, meat, nuts, nut butter, eggs, fish, chicken, etc. Ensure that you eat something an hour or two prior to training and definitely include a snack consisting of protein and carbohydrates as soon as possible after training. Chocolate flavoured milk is an excellent recovery food. Last, but not least, ensure optimal hydration with adequate fluid intake throughout the day, mainly as water.

Pippa Mullins

Strength training is synonymous with building muscle mass. In this case it is important to eat healthy, regular meals and snacks to help meet your kilojoule requirements. These meals and snacks should include adequate amounts of protein as well as carbohydrate to meet your energy requirements and to ensure that the protein consumed is spared for muscle repair (from an exercise session) and building.

 

Pippa Mullins

Yes, this is certainly possible. An athlete is more likely to achieve this by eating a diet that is balanced (and does not cut out food groups) and by being organised. Relying on convenience foods or skipping meals and snacks will make it more difficult to meet nutritional requirements.

Liza Havemann-Nell

Yes, provided they eat a well-balanced diet including all the different food groups (fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat and/or meat alternatives, starches and healthy fats) and match their energy intake with their training load (i.e. provided they eat enough food for the amount of exercise they do).

Nicki de Villiers

The single most important dietary component in any athletes’ diet is their energy intake. Energy can be obtained from various nutrients that are embedded in the food we eat. It makes sense than that, if an athlete eats MORE food, but also includes a VARIETY of food sources from all the different food groups; he/she can totally fulfil all their nutritional requirements through a balanced, varied diet.

Pippa Mullins

Planning ahead is key. Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time so that you can time them around your day-to-day and training commitments.

Liza Havemann-Nell

Match your training requirements with a variety of wholesome foods, including carbohydrates.

Nicki de Villiers

Planning, planning, planning and recovery. None of the good intentions will happen by themselves, but a few minutes spent on planning will save a lot of time on hunting for appropriate food choices! Recovery is also key to keep your body in top shape for the daily training load.

Scroll to Top
Rediscover Dairy