It's not an option, it's a necessity!! It's something for all of us……

Sports Nutrition

This is a pretty tall order that I have been persuaded to do by you guys, but I’ll do my best 😉

My background is reading nutrition from the age of 19 to answer why my Dad was hit by a massive heart attack & died far too young for an ex-gifted athlete. I used that knowledge to assist my own elite competition (to 1980) to World Bronze & European Champion at Roller Speed Skating & later to numerous British Titles over all distances at ‘age-group’ triathlon (to 2000) with a 2hr 34’ marathon & other similar performances between.

I used the latest research – snippets like Vitamin C, E, Ginseng, anti-oxidants etc – in an attempt to combat the superior facilities, financial support & quality in numbers at European &World level & witnessed many drug-assisted cheats in my time namely from Italy, Belgium & (latterly) America. My first real weight-training coach (1974) was Len Sell, an ex-(natural) MrUniverse, who told me never to take drugs & that you can get the same development but it takes a little longer. I told him I was into longevity so certainly wouldn’t! My next meeting of this sort was with a guy 10 years ago who told me about his emergency days in hospital taking poison from his system due to his anabolic steroid use. He looked 10 years older than his real age & wished he had never started them – they had really changed his life!

In the modern era, besides constant ‘smart’ training & ‘specificity’, the food you eat and the water you drink will not only determine whether you have the energy in your choice of sport to carry you through but whether you can advance as quickly as the next person of equivalent talent. It also will affect whether you spend more time in ‘sick bay’ breaking your progression or whether you reach your full age potential, as most deaths are caused by deficiencies.

The key error, as I see it, in modern nutrition is to eat in a way contrary to the way the body was designed. Most people have in excess of 30,000 calories of fat in storage which is meant for low to medium energy expenditure, yet use the carbohydrate energy system which has a limit of about 2000 calories. Fat fuels 9cal/g whilst carbs fuel only 4cal/g which is why the body chooses it. The carbs were meant for ‘fight or flight’ but of course are needed today for sprint-type/explosive sports like football, tennis and hockey. Of course, as we move to more extreme distances or higher endurance work the need for carbohydrate supplementation comes in as anybody who has run a marathon at near their best can testify but today this is easily remedied by a tube of gel or carb drink as you have probably seen the tennis players take.

For the general sportsman or non-athlete it is better to focus on eradicating the ‘empty’ calories (apart from the odd treat 🙂 ) & focusing on staying hydrated & getting some protein at every meal in conjunction with the equivalent of a bag or two of salad per day or the equivalent weight of mainly non-starchy vegetables or fruit. In the 50s when I grew up, we used to walk everywhere, hand-wash our clothes, wring them through a mangler etc. Life was tougher & we played outside from morning to night – no TV! Potatoes were used to fill stomachs because we couldn’t get/afford the protein that is available now. In the poor countries they use similar vegetables like yam for the same purpose & have pot-bellies and mal-nutrition. We use potatoes, corn, fizzy drinks, bread, alcohol etc besides the ‘poisons’ within the array of packaged foods to fuel our ill-health while sitting around most of the day & wonder why baldness, obesity, diabetes etc are a regular event.

Drink pure water rather than the various caffeine drinks on offer & do not drink with meals – drink before – otherwise you will be diluting the acids/alkalis needed to digest that food. De-caffeinated drinks are even worse as they contain the residues of the process, whilst pure fruit juice is fine but is dehydrating on its own. Alcohol is a priority fuel (7cal/g) which the body will try to use immediately; if not it converts to fat very easily. It is difficult to build muscle with alcohol in the system as it lowers testosterone so you would be wasting your time following training with alcohol that day if building muscle is the aim!

If you eat protein every 3 hours-ish you are unlikely to suffer from tiredness, low blood sugar, hunger & should start to feel very comfortable if this is combined with the salad/veg/fruit prescribed above. Protein is fish, fowl, eggs, meat, nuts (ideally not peanuts), seeds, pulses & whey. The latter is the holy grail of modern performance enabling athletes to train more, eat more protein & hence put on more muscle. It is ‘clean’ protein & can be digested in under an hour & even poor digestions can use it. I use Maximuscle Natural as this is pure, clean whey of the best form – tastes like skimmed milk & can be used with gluten-free cereal & fruit for breakfast. Cheaper ones are normally a carbohydrate mix, contain aspartame or poorer types of whey which cause gut problems  🙁

With training, protein enables muscle to be built which provides power, grace, shape & performance! Muscles are the furnace to burn (unwanted) fat from your system & keep you from ‘falling apart’ as you ‘mature’ so look after them & keep them toned. Your body will convert muscle to energy if it is not used – it is programmed to survive – 4cal/g against 9cal/g as before so use it or lose it!

By reducing weight to optimum (for your sport), improving your power to weight ratio, skills & balance; learning to breathe through your nose to improve your fat burning & relaxation while training or being active and as a result keeping healthy, you should find progression fairly easy.

Reading books like: Lean Burn by Stu Mittleman, Body Mind & Sport by John Douillard & The Atkins Diet (up to supplementation & special low-carb produce) will expand your knowledge along the right lines………………

Exercise is not an option, it is a necessity!

 Written by Pat7

166 thoughts on “It's not an option, it's a necessity!! It's something for all of us……

  1. arsenal fan says:

    good post there
    morning all,
    we just sign hazard and cahill

    oh i forgot it was a dream!!!!

  2. rico says:

    Morning All;

    Great read Pat, thank you – i was once told to always drink water with my meals as it helps the digestion, don’t think i’ll be doing that anymore..

    You missed out the bit about AFC and Wenger 😉

  3. Steve Palmer says:

    Morning all,
    Blinding post Pat, I have now got a bit more understanding about all the things I did wrong years ago, bit late for me now, but good advice to all budding future superstars. I must admit I have trained very hard through much of my life, and have gone through quite a few different sports, not of course to your level, but I now find out that alcohol has been slowing my progress all that time. I have found that although alcohol has not helped me to succeed to super stardom, I do like the after affects.

  4. Will says:

    Great post. I eat every 2.5 hours and have protein all the time. I do eat more than the usual person but then I lift heavy weights and need the energy.

  5. rico says:

    Morning Steve

    Its never too late 🙂

    Like you, i have played in most sports over the years but nowehere near the top at any, i never really took much notice of what i was eating/drinking along the way..

  6. Wayne says:

    Absolutely beautiful and an eye epener. I’m not a pro buy a keen athlete and found this very helpful. Great to see something different on here.

  7. rico says:

    but it must shorten their careers Steve and now i see why RvP spoke about it the other day, it seems to be more on an ‘english’ thing to mix the two..

    what was Dennis Bergkamp, 37 when he retired? He must have looked after himself well…. 😉

  8. rico says:

    morning stonroy,

    all the rumours do get a tad boring after a while don’t they – especially when we all know none of them will probably eve come true 😉

  9. agirlagunner says:

    Wow. A really good one, Pat. 🙂 Very enlightening. We all should un-prioritize alcohol, I think. 😉 And this is a good topic to take our mind off certain things. Transfer activities, ahem.

    Good morning, all!

  10. rico says:

    Morning agag,

    certainly makes you stop and think about what we eat and drink etc…

    Same as Steve, its bit too late for me though 😉

    Now where is WATH 😉

  11. agirlagunner says:

    I know, rico!! And I’m the type to skip lunch so I won’t feel guilty about eating champagne nama chocolates!!

    Steve lol on the after effects statement.

    WATH will agree with Pat’s “Alcohol is a priority fuel….” and skip the rest of the article, and peel the blue foil of a bottle of GG and glug away… I would bet anything on it. 😀

  12. rico says:

    agag, I often skip lunch too but usually that is after a bigger breakfast like a boiled egg and soldiers 🙂

    😆 re WATH, I think you could be right….

  13. Will says:

    No Rico as eat every 2.5 hours and I eat a lot of protein. For a snack I will have three egg whites and one yolk.

  14. Pat7 says:

    Morning all – just got back from training & swimming in the sea! Thanks for the great responses – I was beginning to wonder how relevant my ‘output’ was to an Arsenal blog but while we’re not doing much in the transfer market it gives some relief……………..

    As Rico mentioned I omitted the fact that I’m an ex-professional personal trainer & was always into the very latest research to have an edge whilst competing at top level in triathlon. When Wenger had 3 of the team out with ankle injuries I offered my free assistance to let him/his staff try out MBTs which are a ‘trainer’ which works your balance while you’re wearing them. They need some coaching to get the benefits from them but even with my endurance, running for 5 minutes at a slower speed than normal (which was all I could handle) could give my shins, calves, butt & stomach muscles some welly & took about a month to get these ‘balance’ muscles toned enough to cope. I told Wenger to read the site & note that the Austrian ski team were using them which is how I ended up giving them a try. I received a ‘No thanks’ letter from AW.

    Later, my wife having trained in kinesiology, an experience with my calves due to excess stress (not from running) led me to putting together some other experiences/lessons which I again passed on to AW & offered some free advice on that basis but again I got the ‘rejection’. I just wanted to help my team gain an advantage & told him my son had done his work experience at Arsenal & I’d been a fan since about 1960! I was of course disappointed.

  15. rico says:

    Will,

    Rather you than me, i like my yolks and i’d want all 3 😉

    Do you leave the yolks out as they are the bad part of the egg??

  16. Pat7 says:

    Will,

    I hope those egg whites are cooked! I made that mistake in 1979 & struggled for long distance energy for a while. Raw egg white knocks out one of your B vitamins which effectively kills your spark plugs so beyond a sprint is a struggle. Eat whole eggs & make sure they’re cooked but better still use whey protein which is more pleasant to take, no toxins & only beneficial fats + highly digestible!

  17. W.A.T.H says:

    Great article Pat, I am sitting here as we speak GG in hand…….. Beauty 😉

    I’m now on GG every 2 hours no food necessary then………… A wonderful sunday it is too.

  18. agirlagunner says:

    rico, that sounds like a lovely breakfast. 🙂 Will, I like eggs too, only, I would ask someone to magic them up into custards. 😀

    Pat, I shall be reading more on this stuff, to be sure. We do take in a lot of processed stuff, don’t we? 🙁

  19. W.A.T.H says:

    Right I’m on 6 fried eggs a day on toast brown bread of course….. and GG every two hours thats me sorted…..! Hmmmm and you lot all think I don’t look after myself…!

  20. Pat7 says:

    There is no ‘bad’ part of an egg! It is a great packaged meal as nature intended like whole foods. Cholesterol has never been a problem – that all stemmed from misquoted research. Fats are very important, even saturated ones which power the brain along with the unsaturated which carry vitamins ADE & K, build hormones etc & the message system of the body, provide fuel & give you insulation & protection!

  21. agirlagunner says:

    That must be dismal then, Will. Eating stuff you don;t like. 😉

    WATH, how right was I about you?? 😀 Very, I should think.

  22. Rocky Jay says:

    dude, you grew up in the fifty’s? my goodness…so you have seen those black and white days huh?
    i have always wondered..during those days, was everything as bright as it is now or was it black and white like we see in those charlie chaplin movies??

  23. rico says:

    Morning Pat

    Thank you for the post, it’s top notch, very interesting, i even stopped myself from having a cup of tea with breakfast.. 😉

    i think it’s quite sad that our club rejected your offer but i guess we expect that from AW, he seems to think he knows all about all, not only on the nutrition side of the game..

    Shame he couldn’t open his eyes a bit to others views, the club might move on then….

    Swimming in the sea…. I am envious, right now i could swim on our patio we have had so much rain……

  24. W.A.T.H says:

    AGAG, The blue foil is peeled off when I open each case as it saves time for lata, be prepared is my motto…!

  25. Pat7 says:

    WATH/Will,

    It’s the combination of fats with highly refined sugars that does the damage added to heating of OILS above their ‘breakdown’ point. Chips didn’t do too much damage in the 50s as we generally did lots of exercise. When they dumped the newspaper wrapping for white paper they switched to oil & trans-fats & our health went downhill from that point.

    Trans-fats are an alien to the body & wipe out the fat carriers in the same way that carbon monoxide takes out the oxygen carrier in the blood (haemoglobin). In this case not asphyxiation but low energy!

  26. W.A.T.H says:

    So for a fried egg Pat whats best sunflower oil, butter or marg in the frying pan…?

    Cucumber and Mint Rico………. Always….! The Best 😉

  27. rico says:

    agag

    I love eggs but a few years ago they got bad press and i stopped eating them, i since learned that that was all a load of rubbish and probably have an egg a day – i love them.

    I have also switched from brown/wholemeal bread back to white bread, personally i found the grain in brown bread upset my tum – now i make my own so i conytrol the slat/sugar content 🙂

    Pre-packed food, not something I eat much of either, only sauasges and burgers, both of course though being made from Quorn 🙂

  28. rico says:

    Vegetable oil WATH, butter burns 😉

    I’d go for the mint too, in pimms and in with my new potatoes which are nicely growing the the garden 😉

  29. W.A.T.H says:

    Butter only burns if you have the heat up 2 high Rico….. 😉 if u heat is really high and then strain out the impurities you can cook butter then on a much higher heat 🙂

  30. Pat7 says:

    As I said the other day Rico, it’s amazing how behind the times nutrition is in sports. They might have their sports psychologists & electronic gadgets but I have seen in tennis that Djokovich has ‘revolutionised’ the tennis world with them starting to change to gluten free.

    I was doing that in 1995 as I didn’t want last minute panics in my early start triathlon events. With gluten-free you not only speed up the transit time through your gut but avoid a lot of digestive disturbance & ‘perform’ a few pounds lighter 🙂 – now for footballers/tennis/hockey etc where you are doing a series of sprints from a standstill that makes a big difference in performance! AW – Are you listening?

  31. W.A.T.H says:

    I tought him everything Rico, we drinking buddies………. Oh shit I thought you said Floyd……!

  32. rico says:

    Pat,

    I didn’t know Djokovic had changed his diet, he certainly suddenly came good after lurking around some way from the top – he made Murray look silly on the court not long ago, breezed passed him…

    What kind of foods are gluten present in, sounds daft for me to ask, but..

  33. rico says:

    Every sat on Sat morning kitchen they show Keith Floyd in his day, this week he was in France, the french chef was cooking scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast –

    Floyd, never to fail, ate his with a glass of red, what a chef he was…..

  34. rico says:

    Off topic again, you guys see the article about Wenger doen’s need Ashley Young as we already have the better brother Kyle Young in our squad….

    He’s 15 years old!!

  35. Pat7 says:

    If you heat butter and let it cool it returns to butter. If you heat oil beyond a certain heat it becomes a saturated fat & transfat. Oils are great for adding to salad dressing: pumpkin seed, sesame, olive oil but the only safe oils for frying are coconut oil & (expensive) avocado!

    Pork fat & butter are great & tasty! 🙂

    I’m 5% body fat (at 60 years old) 6ft 80Kg & thrive on protein, salad & fruit! I still can run a sub-6′ mile………………

  36. Will says:

    My breakfast is:

    50g raw oats
    Handful of frozen berries
    50g protein
    1/3 pint of unsweetened Soya milk

    Blended

  37. rico says:

    Why is it that all the oils that are ‘better’ for you are all so much more expensive?

    Same goes for any special diet foods, it’s a rip off…..

  38. Pat7 says:

    Not daft at all Rico. Stick to rice flakes, quinoa flakes, millet flakes; the quinoa is the best as it’s a seed so much higher in protein & makes a good porridge in the winter. With a little honey & a scoop of whey protein, topped with fresh berries (lower carb) & any other fresh fruit: scrumptious! I used to like Floyd 🙂

    Yes, Djokovic said recently he hasn’t changed anything training-wise & puts his extra energy down to his gluten-free diet which Federer has now changed to!

    Wenger: ditch that chicken & pasta!

  39. rico says:

    Will

    I don’t think anything will change at AFC all the time the same board are in place together with the same manager….

    I don’t like Soya Milk, what protien would you include in that mix?

  40. rico says:

    I tried Millet during the ‘You are what you eat’ Gillian McKeeth (spelling) days, also did her detox plan – i was so so ill …………

    I’ll maybe try the quinoa….. not sure on the whey protein though 😉

  41. agirlagunner says:

    I think I can live on eggs, chicken, and chocolates, rico. 🙂 Still raining where you are? It’s stopped here, but it’s typhoon season, and we just wait for the next one. I’m off to the coast in a few days, and don’t like the weather forecast one bit. 🙁

    I wouldn’t mind that breakfast, WIll. But I think I’ll put honey in mine. And some mangoes. Maybe, melon, too. Okay, that’s a different breakfast altogether… 😉

    I haven’t had GG in a while, WATH. You’ve hoarded all supply, I think. 🙂

    What about palm oil, Pat?

  42. Pat7 says:

    You get what you pay for Rico. Olives are easily grown & recycled transfats that they use in most chip shops are very cheap (and highly carcinogenic)!

  43. gambon says:

    Morning guys,

    Lets just get Cahill yeah?

    Regarding the article, you suggested fat is best burned by low to medium intensity exercise, which definately isnt the case.

    Also, Alcohol doesnt cpnvert to fat.

  44. Pat7 says:

    Will, the casein is only for the night-time snack. I don’t think you should use that during the day as casein generally will again disturb your digestion!

    Again it is used in the cheaper whey mixes as it’s cheap when compared with the high performance varieties which Maximuscle blend. Don’t be conned.

  45. W.A.T.H says:

    So would clarified butter be better for use in frying foods Pat rather than any of the other oils apart from obviously the two you mentioned that are good the coconut n avo oil…?

  46. rico says:

    agag, still raining, poor old Fido is going to get soaked later, as am i 🙁

    i’m not a cocolate fan, don’t mind the 70% cocoa ones…

    casien and whey, i may have to google both Will 😉

  47. W.A.T.H says:

    Where does that comment come Rico re Kyle Young…? if wenger has said that then he really is demented and delusional…? I think I may need another GG if he’s said that…?

    Maybe he’s looking at Ova Cahill………. he’s 15 I hear……………………

  48. rico says:

    I can understand that with the oils but special diet foods are a rip off, i had to be on a wheat free diet a few years ago and the breads/pastas are so much more expensive..

    Huff…..

  49. Pat7 says:

    Gambon,

    I don’t know what you’ve been reading but the ‘fat’ system was designed by evolution for the hunt down/ tracking of an animal sometimes over several days i.e. slow methodical work. If combined with nose breathing & a steady build up it can be used to pretty high speeds. Mark Allen won 5 Ironman Hawaii’s using fat as an energy & trained his system to be able to run 5’10sec miles on FAT. He used to work this way through the distance until he reached a point where if needed he would speed up using his carb reserve.

    Alcohol does switch readily to fat if not used for energy on the dance floor. It also carries oestrogens which are responsible for the man-boobs the are very common nowadays………….

  50. rico says:

    It’s from Ashley Young, he says he is the better footballer and hopes they can one day play in the same team….

    England 😉

  51. Pat7 says:

    I couldn’t agree more Rico. Why do you think I said read The Atkins Diet up to………… Most health stores (in the UK) can sell you rice flakes etc which are relatively cheap. Quinoa is more expensive as it is a seed & very digestible, useful protein with more nutrients as is millet. Stick to basic foods & make your own concoctions but ensure the protein element.

  52. rico says:

    WATH – Did you see that B’ham are ready to sell Johnson… 🙂

    Wonder if Wenger is ready to buy him….

  53. gambon says:

    Pat7

    Im not saying you dont burn a higher% of fat at low-mid intensity, or the fat burning zone as some like to call it.

    But its not an ideal way to burn fat. Sprint training & high intensity work is a far better way to burn fat & retain muscle.

  54. rico says:

    Pat

    I don’t honestly believe in diets, i just believe in the GMcK theory fo you really are what you eat, sit and eat extra large kebas, pizzas etc every night and you’ll end up looking like one someday…

    I’m also really against the no carb with protein diets, surely they have to be bad for one’s body??

    Def going to try quinoa, love porridge so i’ll prob get on with that one and pleny of local honey selling around where i live too…

  55. W.A.T.H says:

    Rico, I give up with who’s for sale or might be for sale or players we like cos the players “he” goes for are lately not who I like or think we need but most would say thats why I talk rubbish on here all day and he’s “the” manager…! wenger dithers and the other pounce while he looks at the accounts other teamas have managers who buy what they need and have an accounts manager to say what they can and cant spend…!

  56. Pat7 says:

    WATH – clarified butter is great & used by chefs (& probably good cooks 🙂 as far as I know). I’ve always used good butter, pork fat & coconut oil, the latter research-proven to be superior for use in losing weight. Now my wife can select which is the best butter, food, water etc for our personal use, we mainly use the foods which boost our energy & leave on the shelf the ones which would deplete our energy, no matter how healthy nutritionists say they are……………..

  57. rico says:

    I know WATH, i had hope towards the end of the season, hope that his words would be put into action as soon as the season ended. I hope he had all his plans completed and itwas just a case of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s –

    having seen Fergie snap up his targets quickly and Wenger doing nothing, I am not expecting much to happen over the next few weeks either….

    We’ll prob end up getting another Squilli, another kid or two and thats it, oh, and lose Cesc on the way…..

  58. W.A.T.H says:

    Thanx Pat I’ll stick to the clarified butter then……….. 😉
    Now to pick the foods that are good for me and that I like…………! 😀
    Can’t just live on rabbits food……… Salads are just so boring….!

  59. Pat7 says:

    Rico, once again I agree with you totally, but we aren’t talking diets here 🙂

    If you know your dog thrives on meat, which I’m sure he does, as you love him you feed him meat. Lots of owners you read about give them beer, chocolate & any old rubbish left on their plate. This is not good for them. Would you contemplate changing from meat to milk? Of course not!

    Now, why I mention the Atkins ‘Diet’ is it is an education to switch over to fats & protein with a ‘higher than average’ consumption of salad/veg than a lot of people eat & watch your excess weight start falling off. From there which can be 1-2 weeks depending on what you are trying to achieve, having converted to burning fat, you introduce various food choices one at a time (per week) which not only gives you a chance to see if these families of food agree with you but also to see at what level of carbs your weight loss is halted i.e. what level of carb consumption your body can cope with.

    Learning from that experience you may end up eating a wider variety of foods. You know how to shed pounds if you wish & know what the cost is for eating that special treat but can choose to eat it anyway knowing how to balance it. That to me is fab & brings freedom to a lot of people to be ‘in charge’ again!

  60. Pat7 says:

    Gambon,

    I am a very highly qualified personal trainer so understand what you’re putting forward. The problem there is that the drive for ‘fitness’ may be detrimental to health which is why when I read about Mark Allen/Dr Phil Maffetone (who is also a kinesiologist) I thought I’d try his theories & found them to be superior!

    I ran on a treadmill for one hour at decent speed (about 13kph) using only water (on an empty stomach) for refreshment & after had my wife test me (as he had done) & the body called for PURE whey protein, not a carb/whey mix or carbs on their own!

    If you don’t do the steady build to speed & nose breathing you will burn carbs as your body is in flight/fight mode. I use interval training most weeks but I build to the pace, take a slower speed for a short period if required, then start the interval efforts………………….This way I am NOT craving carbs when I finish & consuming carb drinks during. I take my pure whey with water then an hour or two later have my meal, often the gluten free mix with honey, more whey & fruit as mentioned above.

  61. Joaquim moreira says:

    good morning all!
    interesting article.
    I had swiimming at the sea for a while but the water is cold.
    Maybe 16 degrees.
    However, the article is a complement to the profound changes in eating habits that has been doing over the terms. The opening of borders, and allowed the resulting openness to new foods. The knowledge and study of cellular metabolism, among others, contributed significantly to aalteração eating habits and the exponential increase of the widespread practice of physical exercise. Here in my land, for example, there are many people walking throughout the day.
    As for Arsenal, you have the news this week

  62. rico says:

    I know Pat, I went off on one, so unlike me 😉

    Our dog eats only dry food, quorn products and fish – she barked at a bone when she was given it so i gave up 🙂

    I cetainly eat a lot of veg and salads. in fact i have to be smug here and say i eat quite healthily, unltil beer o’clock strikes of course 😉

  63. Pat7 says:

    One point to make before switching to things Arsenal 🙂 is that I felt Atkins got a lot of flak from nutritionists who felt threatened by a diet that actually replaced them. They said you can’t cut out whole families of foods etc. Actually you can – especially those that don’t work FOR us.

    Milk (human) is great for us when we are in our very early period, some races take this to 3-5 years old for example, but after we are weaned off we lose the enzyme required for digesting this properly.

    The Milk Marketing Board has brainwashed people into thinking this is a great food for adults & children but if you read the research it is the cause of most of our health problems. It increases mucous in our system which is detrimental to breathing & upsets digestion of nearly anything that is eaten with it. Go whey instead.

    Fruit is good for you UNLESS you have Candida (which would show as bloating) after starchy carbs. A lot of people have Candida……………….Try to eat fruit grown naturally in your region – bananas & tropical fruit could be a NO, NO……

    Carbs are not just bread, cakes, potatoes etc. Salads, fruit & veg are all carbs & they are found in nuts, seeds, peas & beans so don’t be conned!

    As you will have noticed I am passionate about training/nutrition & love to spread the word & have no ulterior motives. Give it a whirl – your health will benefit.

  64. rico says:

    Well, I found your sticle and the debate bloomin interesting Pat, i never knew that veggies and fruit are considered a carb other than bananas..

    Few changes are going to made in my house….

    Quinoa being the first, not sure what is the best alternative for milk though, it all tastes disgusting……

  65. Pat7 says:

    Rico,

    That’s against nature: a processed protein & fish & probably cereal although packaged for convenience – what happened to meat scraps from the local butcher 🙂 Don’t know of fish catching dogs; have always been more friendly with cats really since a big Alsation bit my Arsenal walking to school opposite Kings X St Pancras at age 5ish 🙂

    Have we signed anybody then? 🙂 🙂

  66. rico says:

    Re Phil Jones,

    Reports suggest that we have gon back with another bid that has bettered what Fergie offered, as have Liverpool…..

  67. rico says:

    Its a meat based dry food from Hills – chicken and rice, she loves fish and the vet now says it’s good for their diet, fur and skin. The dry food is a complete food, she doesn’t really need anything else..

    Butchers only give away the bones, and bones with meat on but she didn’t eat it, didn’t like it so, didn’t bother again….

    She gets (free range) ham/chicken occasionally if we have visitors but I won’t feed her a chicken that have never seen daylight or an animal that has been pumped with things to force its growth etc…

    And that is a whole different subject 😉

  68. Pat7 says:

    Maximuscle Natural when made up with a little water (like custard to avoid the lumps, mixes well & then can be diluted to taste) is like skimmed milk but can be used to boost the protein content & stop the sugar surge in other more naughty cooking 🙂 Seriously, nothing is naughty; moderation IS required for health reasons! Keep the balance!

  69. rico says:

    I will take a look at the that one Pat, don’t want to end up looking like Theo’s sister though 😉 😉

  70. Pat7 says:

    You’re in charge of your dog Rico but I’ve never heard of a dog digging up cereals to eat & not sure how their digestion deals with it. It may well not do any noticeable harm but I’m sure dogs are meant to eat meat & fat. Carbs are cheaper & I’ve had no reason to read dog nutrition & its developments but it’s a derivative of a wolf as far as I know…………….of course if it has eaten a contaminated carcasse it may eat certain shrubs/grasses to cause a reaction 🙂

  71. W.A.T.H says:

    My dogs love meat Pat although they do enjoy a nice cup of tea in winter, hardly any milk but 2 sugars 😉

  72. Steve Palmer says:

    Pat, something a little different, i would like to ask your opinion about, you sound round about the same age as me do you remember an athlete called Lassi Viren i believe he ran middle distance, he used blood transfusions to increase the oxygen in his blood to give more energy could this work for footballers

  73. Pat7 says:

    Hi SP,

    He was one of the first cheats using blood doping before it was banned I think & won the 5 & 10Km at the same Olympics but then did nothing until the next Olympics when he won the 10K again I think.

    No, is the answer as the body seeks to balance the excess red blood cells. When I referred to the American cheat, he was the son of a millionaire who used the same technique when it was banned to win 3 gold & 2 silver from 5 available distances in my last races at World Champs in NZ. We thought he had superior conditioning to be able to sprint from over 1km out……It didn’t become general knowledge as far as I know but as the team manager & national coach I took a team to Bogota Columbia for Worlds in 1983 & learnt he had been there in1980 for that purpose giving a pint of blood earlier in the year & retrieving it just before the event 🙁

  74. W.A.T.H says:

    I remember him Steve…….. that’s very similar in theory to what the South African rugby players were doing a few years back… they were using decompression chambers to move the blood through the body quicker I believe and so help healing processes on injuries…! Specifically ankle and knee injuries…!

  75. Pat7 says:

    Altitude training does the same thing the hard way & is obviously expensive & why the Columbians have a great advantage in the Tour de France as they were born at altitude & live there when not on tour so have even more increased adaption like larger hearts & finer capilliarisation in their muscles.

  76. Steve Palmer says:

    How long before an event would you need to take the new blood in to benefit, and how long would something like that last.

  77. arsenal legend says:

    manu signing for de gea confirmed……..
    manu sign a good a great keeper in the making as soon as van der sar retires and we waited to see almunia is any good for three seasons………….

  78. Steve Palmer says:

    Wath, i get a feeling of well being after a few Vodka’s and it helps me sleep, some times i think i am happier now than in my training day’s. What i have found out is that training whatever kind, wears out your body sooner than it should and you end up with aching joints, but i did enjoy the sports.

  79. Steve Palmer says:

    As far as nutrition goes, i reckon that a little bit of everything does you good , The human body was designed for walking and short sprints and reproducing. But all that changed when rulers came in, their ideas was that you work your socks off while they sit on there arses.

  80. Pat7 says:

    Some of those comments were good 🙂

    SP – I assure you that your ‘wearing out’ is caused by deficiencies & lack of care or your muscles as I said in my ‘bit’.

    I’ve been hammering my body since the age of 14, weights since age 24, 8 marathons whilst running & coaching & then triathlon for 12 years & 11 years of ‘almost’ elite training since & my joints are fine but I have paid for a massage regularly since age 21 to keep my extremely dense muscles in order as prescribed by a physio back then. I still have one weekly as long as my physio is not visiting Turkey as he is at the moment 🙂

    If they are not totally wrecked (X-ray) your body can repair given the right stuff & I don’t mean pain-killers!

  81. Pat7 says:

    I haven’t heard of altitude being used for sports injuries but endurance athletes of any note all use it today e.g. Paula Radcliffe.

    The latest stuff as far as I know in injuries is cryotherapy (very, very cold) to speed up the metabolism & hence the repair process as the brain floods the blood to the site eventually.

  82. Joaquim moreira says:

    News on Sunday (not good):
    a) Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday announced the hiring of Kevin Gameiro, former advanced Lorient which was being strongly coveted by Valencia.
    Kevin Gameiro, second top scorer with 22 League goals Frenchman has signed a contract for four seasons, becoming the second building after the PSG goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez (ex-Rennes).
    b) Giuseppe Rossi on his way to Barcelona, ​​the deal could be closed this Monday.
    According to The Sunday Times, the Catalan club will spend 29.5 million euros to secure the second top scorer in the European edition of the League of the jerseys with Villarreal.
    The British newspaper also advances that Barca will pay 34 million pounds, ie EUR 38.4 million, Arsenal Fabregas to get back to the club where he graduated
    c) Barcelona is the best customer Arsenal For Editors
    The numbers are indisputable. In recent years, Barcelona has become one of the best customers Arsenal with respect to the sale of players.
    With sales of Overmars, Petit, Van Bronkhorst, Hleb and Henry to Barcelona, ​​the London club managed to amass over 80 million.
    Value that could rise if the change to take place from Cesc Fabregas, estimated at 45 million, the team coached by Arsene Wenger for Barca.
    d) Barcelona: by Fabregas talks begin today
    Starting this Saturday the negotiations between Barcelona and Arsenal Cesc Fabregas to return to their ‘natural habitat’, writes the Spanish newspaper Aires
    Apparently, despite the issue being spoken every summer, Guardiola does not want to waste more time and “demanded” that this time his engagement to succeed.
    Thus, it is expected today in Barcelona agent Fabregas, David Dein, who will have a minimum required by Arsenal: 40 million.
    The player is on leave pending the development and negotiations.
    e) The entrepreneur Abel Hernández (uruguay – Palermo), Vincenzo D’Ippolito, confirmed Sunday that the Italian press that the Palermo received an offer worth 15 million pounds (17 million) move from the Uruguayan forward Tottenham
    However, the agent ensures that the offer should convince the leaders of the Italian team to give the young, aged 20, who will be in the Copa America next month in July, the service of Uruguay.
    In England, the Sunday Mirror that advances Yannick is the alternative if the Spurs fail to acquire Hernández, thus joining Everton in the race for advanced Sporting.
    f) M. City willing to do anything to have Ronaldo ..
    .

  83. Pat7 says:

    My physio was wanted used to work in football but married a girl here. About 2 months after I started getting my massages with him he had a call from Galatasaray & another top team trying to tempt him back to Turkey.

    My son is a sports therapist in Stevenage who used to work for Stevenage for 7 years & now gets his personal repairs done by the guy while visiting & says he’s using techniques more advanced than in the UK! I will still be doing his massages though 🙂

  84. Pat7 says:

    Joaquim,

    There’s a few ‘untruths’ in that article. I don’t think DD is involved at all for one but hey, stranger things have happened 🙂

  85. rico says:

    Hi JM

    Barca cant afford Cesc, unles we accept a player swap deal, shich i wouldn’t i don’t think would dismiss..

  86. Steve Palmer says:

    You would have thought cold treatment would slow things down in treatment for injuries but i used to use hot and cold and found that worked quicker for me. Warming down after training is also beneficial as i remember stops a build up of something in muscles and stops the aching, is that right Pat.

  87. Pat7 says:

    SP – it works initially to slow down the metabolism at the site as blood flow would cause more damage but after 3 days of ice poultices every 2 hours (only), the contrast (hot & cold) is the latest remedy unless you have the cryotherapy available. My masseur in France showed me theirs at the club where Sunu came from! – impressive & I’m sure Arsenal have one…………………..

  88. Pat7 says:

    Lactic acid or lactate SP. The cool down is also essential to get blood from the muscles back to the liver (& bringing down the heart rate). It alleviates a possible faint which could be dangerous.

  89. Pat7 says:

    I have difficulty in believing Barcelona will be taking on Cesc unless they are parting with some of their ‘desirable’ players. They have no ready money worth speaking about & were still paying us for Hleb last time I heard…………..

    Unless they can afford at least £60M not Euros in readies or players I think they’re doomed even if AW has agreed with Cesc if they should pursue it. WE need money to replace him & certainly don’t owe them any favours with all the aggro’ they’ve caused over the years……………….

  90. W.A.T.H says:

    Barca for me need to be paying cash on the table what we want or piss off OR less cash and a decent player or two of our choice NOT what they offer us, then again who would wanna leave them and come to us…? exactly…!

  91. W.A.T.H says:

    I think Usmanov is spot on Will, the board have merely lined their pockets whilst sitting by and letting the playing squads quality deteriorate annually. Custodians of lining their own pockets I’d say. Now we have the yank who has said nothing allowed them to sit by as a board whilst we pay for their gin and tonics every home game….! Don’t forget we’re the idiots that know nothing abt football…!

  92. rico says:

    Its true though WATH, Silent Stan is no doubt sending the team to Asia etc to gain more sponserships, more shirts, more this and chuffin that – all to make him money – meanwhile, what is he doing or making Wenger do to make the fans settled?

    Nowt…

    I know the Russian may not be the best but I bet if he had bought us, we’d all be happy bloggers right now, knowing that next season we’d be watching great football again…

    Long term, would he be better, i don’t know the answer…..

  93. Will says:

    Have to say, I agree with him but is this the best timing seeing as there is an AST meeting with Gazidis tomorrow?

  94. W.A.T.H says:

    Whats wrong with the timing Will maybe the timing is mean’t to put some pressure so Gazidis has some pertinant questions to answer although am sure no comment will come into a lot of his answers !!

  95. agirlagunner says:

    I suspect, Will, the statement was timed to coincide with that. Make the Board take some heat..

  96. rico says:

    Night agag, have a fab break, you deserve it 🙂

    Will, i think its perfect timing, the board need to wake up and smell the gravy – many unhappy fans, without them the seats will be empty….

    fans keep OUR club going – no matter how many jcls go and watch right now, they’ll soon decide to go and watch a side that wins – right now that isn’t us….

  97. Will says:

    Rico, we can hope she does.

    I have no idea when the next boards meeting is, but I hope Gazidis gets a hard time from the AST lot.

  98. rico says:

    I think I read somewhere that it is on Tuesday or wednesday this week, hence the timing of AU’s comments Will…

  99. Will says:

    I think so JM, Wilshere was tired and to good, Walcott is now a first team starter and Gibbs is injured.

  100. Joaquim moreira says:

    One more:
    Bayern are in the market looking for a successor to Franck Ribery, who is in final contract, and decided to enter the race by Samir Nasri, Arsenal.
    According to British media, the ‘colossus’ German prepares a tempting proposition in order to beat competition from Manchester City and Chelsea, who are also interested in the services of French international.

  101. rico says:

    JM

    That is interesting about Ribery, not the first time i have read about his link to us…..

    Bit of an old has been though…..

  102. rico says:

    Will

    What will be will be, stay or go, i couldn’t give a hoot anymore re Nasri, no player should hold us to ransom…..

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