Climbing
Revealed: how pro athletes fuel their training
A hockey player, climber, rugby player and snowboarder reveal what they eat to get them through the most physically demanding competitions.
What is the best food to fuel you through your chosen sport?
Don't Google it. No, seriously, looking around will only add to the confusion: carbs or no carbs? Meat or no meat? Should you avoid sugar completely? Does keto help or is 5:2 better or are neither of them useful?
To find out from the pros, we asked hockey player Maddie Hinch, snowboarder Billy Morgan, rugby player Jack Nowell and climber Shauna Coxsey to share what they eat on a daily basis to fuel their rigorous training regimes and elite competitions.
Sports nutritionist Terry Fairclough of yourbodyprogramme.com also gives the lowdown on what is required – nutritionally – to get the edge in each of these sports.
Shauna Coxsey, climber
Shauna Coxsey is a two-time bouldering World Cup winner who will be representing Great Britain at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Shauna enjoys a balanced diet that "definitely includes cake"
© Red Bull Content Pool
Talk us through the food you eat on a standard training day.
I have banana pancakes (1 banana, 2 eggs, flour, blueberries, raspberries, almond butter, honey) for breakfast, then graze throughout the day on light snacks such as dried fruit, nuts and energy bars so I don’t feel heavy for training. For dinner I’ll have a high-protein balanced meal with meat or fish to ensure muscular recovery and that my energy levels are topped up for the next day.
To boost recovery Shauna opts for a high-protein evening meal
© Sherry Galey / Getty
Talk us through what you eat/drink before and after a competition.
I’ll always eat a big protein and carbohydrate-rich breakfast and tailor the diet for the day based on when I’m competing so I have enough energy without feeling full. I’ll have snacks through competition and Red Bull before and during the event. Afterwards I’ll refuel with a protein-rich snack.
Do you have a set meal/nutrition plan?
No, I used to work with a nutritionist and I found it really interesting. I learned a lot from them, but I trust myself to control my diet. I like to eat good food and a balanced diet that definitely includes cake.
What’s your all-time favourite meal?
Breakfast!
If we were coming over for a fancy dinner, what would you cook for us?
Beef bourguignon, followed by dark chocolate and raspberry ganache tart in the winter, or a good salad with lots of stuff – not a lame salad with tuna – and Eton mess for dessert in summer.
Shauna Coxsey at Liverpool's Climbing Hangar
© Toby Ziff
What the sports nutritionist says:
“Climbing is about a good weight to strength ratio,” says nutritionist Terry Fairclough. “Keeping body fat down is essential. Professional climbers tend to have an ectomorph [light build with lean muscle] or ecto-mesomorph [lean and muscular] build. They are lightweight, and the sport is more about endurance than explosion, so they require a good balance between weight and isometric strength.
“The energy system uses oxygen and is fuelled by carbohydrates and fat. You should eat plenty of slow-release carbohydrates, spread between 5-7 meals per day to ensure muscle stores are optimal. Ensure you are getting the right amount of calories for your height and weight – too little will leave you short of energy and too much may add unnecessary weight.”
Billy Morgan, snowboarder
Billy Morgan is an English snowboarder who got bronze in the Big Air in the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Billy Morgan
© Pally Learmond
Talk us through the food you eat on a standard training day.
In the morning I’ll aim to get lots of calories in. I’ll have fruit – preferably banana and pineapple – with some nuts, followed by spinach and mushroom scrambled eggs on toast (AKA battle eggs). That will set me up for the morning’s riding. I’ll then have a cereal bar snack at about 10am. For lunch, I’ll have something prepared, like a tuna salad wrap, with a can of Red Bull and some water. Dinner could literally be anything – I try to mix it up.
Spinach and mushroom scrambled eggs on toast is Billy's go-to brekkie
© robynmac / Getty
What do you eat on the day of a competition?
I’ll eat the same as I do on a training day. I’ll have my Red Bull about 45 minutes to an hour before I drop and just maintain healthy snacking so I'm not hungry at any point on the lead to my runs.
At a freestyle academy/trampoline park, we normally go later in the day after dinner. Some people can’t bounce after eating, but I’ve always been lucky so I can just crack on!
Do you have a set meal/nutrition plan?
No, but different sports affect my nutrition – cycling makes me the hungriest, then a good skate, especially if I forget to take snacks. I like the feeling of just drinking water and running on empty every now and then – it feels like flushing the system, plus you get to load it all back in again.
What’s your all-time favourite meal?
I’ve always liked Thai and East Indian food. If you cook it yourself you can make it healthy, too.
If we were coming over for a fancy dinner, what would you cook for us?
You’d get a white fish madras or a chicken saag, booya!
Billy Morgan is one of the best freestylers in snowboarding history
© Greg Coleman / Red Bull Content Pool
What the sports nutritionist says:
“Snowboarding training is generally a mix of short, explosive moves coupled with longer periods moving through different obstacles,” says Fairclough. “They use both the adenosine triphosphate (up to 15 seconds) and the glycolytic (up to 2 minutes) energy systems – like most sports, the important thing is to have plenty of stored glycogen on which to draw for quick energy.
“Like climbers, you will need to keep weight under control to maximise your jumps. Make sure you are getting the right amount of calories for your height and goal, with 50-60% coming from carbs.”
Jack Nowell, rugby player
Rugby superstar Jack Nowell is a winger for England and Exeter Chiefs.
Talk us through the food you eat on a standard training day.
I wake up, then have 5g of glutamine, colostrum and creatine mixed with orange juice or apple juice (mainly for the taste). Breakfast is toast, avocado, spinach, eggs (poached or scrambled), bacon or sausage and then some porridge to finish. Lunch is usually a chicken breast or steak, with rice or potatoes and green veg like broccoli or peas, and a salad.
Dinner is similar to lunch, but concentrating more on protein – so more chicken or steak, with limited carbs and more veg. I don’t really have snacks during the day, as I have bigger meals. Before bed I’ll have 20g of casein protein, with 5g of creatine, glutamine and colostrum.
What do you eat on the day of a match?
The meal I eat the night before a match is important. Dinner is a bit of a tradition: it’s always barbecue chicken fajitas, guacamole, salsa, sour cream – the full works. Then some ice cream or rice pudding. On the day of the game, for breakfast it’s a bowl of porridge, toast, egg and avocado. Lunch is usually small and simple, such as pasta with tomato and chicken. Post-match is pizza or Indian takeaway – I usually allow myself to eat whatever I want.
How many calories do you have a day?
I’m not a big calorie counter, so I’m not sure, but with all the protein shakes and the amount I eat I could well be having 4,000-5,000 calories a day.
When it comes to a pre-game meal, fajitas are Jack's favourite
© bhofack2 / Getty
Do you have a set meal/nutrition plan?
I don’t, but some of the forward boys do in order to control their weight. I’m one of the lucky ones who can eat pretty much what I want and stay the same weight and keep my fitness.
If we were coming over for a fancy dinner, what would you cook for us?
As I’m the son of a fisherman, it would have to be nice, light crab or a prawn cocktail starter, followed by Dover or lemon sole, dipped in a bit of flour, pan-fried then grilled. I’d make a pretty mean salad, alongside homemade French fries. Then dessert would be the big finish – I’d pull out all the stops with a chocolate fountain.
Nowell pictured in full flight for Exeter Chiefs
© Getty
What the sports nutritionist says:
“Rugby players need strength and power,” says Fairclough. “They are usually a meso-endomorph body type [athletic build, gains muscle quickly] with lots of fast-twitch muscle fibre. Strength training, which generally uses low-rep ranges and lasts around 15 seconds, requires stored energy (ATP) which takes around three-to-four minutes to replenish. Strength training requires effective motor-neurone function. Essential fats are important in nerve cell function, transmission and integrity.
“The short, explosive bursts of energy use both creatine phosphate and the glycolytic energy system, which provide energy for the first 10 seconds and medium-to-high intensity bursts of activity that last from 10 seconds to two minutes respectively. This means they need large quantities of stored glycogen (carbohydrates). Large amounts of slow-release carbohydrates such as brown rice, quinoa, lentil and oats will help maintain weight and keep the body in an anabolic state so it can maximise strength and power. Always ensure you drink branch-chain amino acids while training and have a protein shake with a good amount of fast-release carbs after training.”
Maddie Hinch, hockey
Maddie Hinch is an Olympic gold medal-winning Team GB hockey goalkeeper with 133 caps for GB and England. She currently plays for Dutch team SCHC.
Maddie won Olympic gold with the Team GB squad in 2016
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
Talk us through the food you eat on a standard training day.
An example day would be granola and quark with fruit for breakfast and then a protein shake after my morning training. For lunch, poached eggs and salmon, and then rice cakes with peanut butter and banana for an afternoon snack. And then for dinner, a Thai green curry.
Talk us through what you eat/drink before a competition.
Pre-match I’ll have a banana and a Red Bull. Over the course of a day I'll consume roughly 3,000 calories.
Maddie snacks on rice cakes with peanut butter and banana
© MSPhotographic / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Do you have a set meal/nutrition plan?
We are given nutrition programmes from our squad nutritionist that provide guidance on what we should be eating around the specific training loads, i.e. how much protein/carbs are required pre and post sessions.
If we were coming over for a fancy dinner, what would you cook for us?
Beef wellington with roast veg and new potatoes.
Maddie Hinch is a world-class shot stopper
© Richie Hopson / Red Bull Content Pool
What the sports nutritionist says:
Nutritionist Fairclough says that hockey players are generally mesomorphs [muscular, athletic build]. “They require speed agility and endurance. It will use a mixture of both glycolytic and aerobic energy systems for short sprints to endurance respectively. Keeping the glycogen stores at an optimal level is essential as hockey requires a lot of running.
“Aim to eat 7-8g/kg bodyweight of slow-release carbohydrate (brown rice, quinoa, lentil and oats), increasing it to 8-10g/kg in the days before a match. When training, after the hour mark drink water with some dissolved sugar as it will be easily absorbed, and electrolytes to aid cognitive function and hydration. Add a squeeze of lemon for flavour.”
