ESSENDON are on the menu this afternoon but it’s not only what the Swans consume today that will affect their performance this season.
Former Glasgow Rangers and Scotland rugby team dietitian Lorraine Cullen has been given an increased role at the club this year, monitoring and guiding each player through a strict dietary program as part of coach John Longmire’s goal to have each at their physical peak.
Cullen’s impact won’t be obvious to fans. But the players have realised her value in manipulating body weight, energy, endurance and hydration levels in what is, to her, the most physically demanding team sport. As they do their job on the field today, each Swan will have a specially marked pack of food, gels and drinks tailor-made to his needs, based on on-field energy consumption, stage of fitness and even genetic make-up.
”People think a dietitian just does menu plans,” Cullen says. ”But even during a game there’s opportunities to reduce fatigue so they can maintain their intensity until the end.”
Cullen is amazed by how much energy and fluid AFL players need during a match. It is why, she says, she must be aggressive with their dietary intakes during the opportunities that come up.
The lead-up work involves comparing players’ pre- and post-match weights, which indicates their sodium consumption. Sodium is vital in retaining fluid. The results dictate how much energy and sodium they must ingest during a game.
”The good thing about AFL is that we have runners who can get to the players so they can hydrate on the run,” Cullen says. ”And during interchanges we give them what they need to prevent any reduction in performance. AFL has high intensity over two hours and the guys use up a lot of energy and fluids. The field is large, so they do a lot of running – they’re basically endurance athletes.”
Game day is only part of Cullen’s task. A crucial period was in pre-season, when players returned in all shapes and sizes. ”Some of the guys came back not hitting the targets we’d set for them when they left us,” she said. ”Most guys lost muscle over the break and we had to do a lot of manipulating lean mass and body fat.
”For some players, we had to rethink their training plans if their weight was too high. Some guys had to cut their energy intake but make sure they still had a good balance of nutrients. It was all about timing, so they can get the most out of training.”
Players returning from injury had to be carefully brought back to fitness, among them Shane Mumford.
”He’s interesting because he can stimulate muscle growth very easily,” Cullen says. ”We took his weight down five kilograms when he started training to avoid more pressure on his injured knee. [We reduced] his fats, sugar and protein intake to slow muscle growth and focused on carbohydrates, lean proteins [to] give him fuels but without too much calorie intake.”
Lewis Jetta struggles to maintain body weight after a game, making recovery difficult, so he requires a lot of energy foods to see him through.
The dietary jungle is a hint of what Israel Folau is facing as he seeks a leaner AFL-style shape.
”A lot would come down to his genetics,” Cullen says. ”But they’ve probably focused on getting his endurance up because AFL game time is [longer] and agility is much greater than in rugby league, in terms of changing directions. He might have to lose a bit of fat. AFL guys are much leaner than rugby players.”
Cullen will play a key role this year and she feels she is earning the trust of the Swans players.
”Just this morning every player gave me a urine sample which I’ll test for hydration levels,” she says. ”To do things like that, and sit in on coaches’ meetings and really get to know them, makes a massive difference to how they respect me and what I do. You’ve got to win them over and break down the barrier.”
ARTICLE BY: DAVID SYGALL
From: Sydney Morning herald, 3 April 2011