London-based personal trainer, England Touch Rugby athlete and L3 Fascial Stretch Specialist Niki Bird tells the Journal about her personal nutritional programme which supports her performance at International level and her top tips for training diet.
What does your typical daily diet look like during training?
Disclaimer! I've suffered from a lot of gut problems over the years so it's taken me quite a while to perfect what sits right for me and what is going to fuel me properly for performance. Every body is different, so that includes what our nutritional needs may be. Try and test out what works best for you (your body and how it reacts to certain foods is direct feedback) or get expert advice from a qualified dietician/nutritional consultant. I've had some fantastic advice over the years from superstars Nicola Marsh and more recently Pheobe Liebling. An example of a training day food diary:
Top Tips for staying properly hydrated?
Have you come across any misconceptions or myths around training diets?
Protein shakes make you fat is a common one I hear constantly! Like with all food & drink, yes they of contain calories and if consumed in excess they can of course contribute to weight gain. But if a good quality protein shake is consumed after training (without all the extra trimmings that some places like to add) then they are a great thing to have to help contribute to muscle growth, repair damaged muscles and speed up recovery from your sessions. I personally like the pea protein powder from @TheWorkshopGymnasium or the peanut protein from @MotionNutrition.
What’s your go to trusted snack for an energy boost?
I love making my own energy bars to be honest! I know exactly what's in them and there are minimal ingredients. BUT for ease, definitely my tried and tested favourites from fitbites, squirell sisters & the tribe way.
For those who are just starting a new sport or challenge what small changes can they make?
People get so caught up in what to eat (which of course is hugely important) but they often forget to properly hydrate. It's a small thing, but like I mentioned earlier, buy yourself a re-usable bottle and figure out how much you should be having daily. Stats show that a loss of sweat equal to just 2% of your bodyweight, can cause noticeable decrease of physical and mental performance.
Personal Training appointments with Niki can be booked via The Workshop Gymnasium or privately via nikibirdpt@gmail.com
Follow Niki @itsnikibird
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