Diet and athletic performance: an interview with Blake Worrall-Thompson on my work with the Roosters

Following on from my recent blog post on the work I did with the Sydney Roosters as their nutrition coach, I was recently interviewed  by Blake Worrall-Thompson who is the Director/Founder of Ministry of Wellbeing, a personal training organisation.

To view the interview on U-Tube click here.

Blake runs periodic "6 Weeks to Sexy" personal training programs aimed at females. For those who might be interested I encourage you to check  out Blake's website and/or contact him on: Phone: 0433 820 408 Web: www.ministryofwellbeing.com Email: blake@mowb.com.au Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wellbeingbyblake Blog: http://www.wellbeingbyblake.com Instagram: blakewt1

I will be offering cooking classes to Blake's clients who are undertaking this 6 week program. Training becomes so much more effective when you combine it with eating the right foods. You can't out-train a poor diet.

Coincidentally, a couple weeks after I posted my article on the Sydney Roosters, an article was published in the USA on the Lakers who have also adopted a nutrient-dense traditional wholefoods diet under the guidance of their new nutrition coach. To view  the article on the Lakers click here. I find it interesting (but not surprising) that the new nutrition coach for the Lakers is  Catherine Shanahan who wrote “Deep Nutrition- Why our Genes need Traditional Foods”.  I read that book a few years back and it is, in my view, a seminal text on nutrition and one of the few books that I am constantly recommending to friends, colleagues and clients.  I have the utmost respect for Catherine and what she has brought to the table in terms of her research and learnings on epigenetics and how environmental factors – in particular nutrients and toxins- directly impact gene expression. There is definitely a growing  movement worldwide back towards a nutrient-dense ancestral wholefoods diet, which is where we originally started from. The tide is starting to turn. There is a long way to go but the experience of the Sydney Roosters and the Lakers are but 2 examples that more and more athletes and their nutrition coaches worldwide are starting to question to the conventional food pyramid which has been such a dismal failure in protecting our health. The dangers of sugar and trans fats have now squarely hit the mainstream. I think its only a matter of time before more people start to question the consumption of refined grains, sports foods/drinks, synthetic supplements and industrial seed (processed) oils.

Would love to hear from any athletes (professional or amateur) or PTs out there on their experience with how conventional diet versus traditional wholefoods influences training and athletic performance.