The Magic of Protein Before Bed

With our Spring season right around the corner, we should be thinking about (if we haven’t been already) getting our bodies prepared and in shape. Getting prepared and in shape encompasses a few aspects of our lives and health. You’re going to have to consider your cardiovascular health, your strength and fitness, and your nutritional needs.

Last week, I posted a link to Adam Russell’s blog. Adam is a nutrition consultant for USA Rugby. On his blog, you’ll find a lot of helpful nutritional information. I’d like to share, with you, a little bit of nutrition wisdom that Adam imparted on us at the most recent USA Rugby invitational camp.

Adam said that one of the key factors in a good nutritional plan is sleep. He says that all of the “magic” associated with good nutrition is useless without sleep. Generally eight hours is average amount the normal adult needs, however this amount is dependent on the person. Some can function just fine off six hours and others need ten.

Not only is sleep important, but eating a source of protein helps. About a half hour after you set off in dreamland, your pituitary gland releases a growth hormone that tells your body to start repairing itself. If amino acids (like those found in protein) aren’t present, the brain won’t prioritize physical recovery, but will put itself and vital organs first.

Protein prevents the body from catabolizing (breaking down) muscle for energy and will give your body the amino acids it needs to enhance physical recovery. So before you doze off, take 20-30 grams of a slow digesting protein, like cottage cheese, chicken, skim milk or a protein shake.

Pre-Season

River Ruggers,

I'm finally getting back in the swing of things (hopefully a long overdue newsletter will be coming shortly). As most of you know, I just attended a USA Rugby camp in Florida (for more on that, check out http://rugbysidelines.blogspot.com/).

Part of camp was devoted to beginning our journey to the World Cup in 2014 by creating a high-performance culture. In doing that, our staff has provided us with so many resources on exercise, nutrition, life-management, etc. One of those resources is Adam Russell, who is a nutrition consultant for USA Rugby. I just wanted to share his blog with you all, so here it is: http://hpnutrition.wordpress.com/.

Feel free to explore.