Mental Nutrition Advice

FTA69 · 08-04-2014 11:12am #1

A former professional boxer has started doing a bit of coaching at our gym and by former pro I mean a guy who was world level, described as one of the best British boxers of all time and who had three world title fights including one against Mike McCallum who only beat him by split decision. In short, the man knows his stuff when it comes to boxing.

However, he also has this nutritional philosophy which I frankly think is a pile of b*llocks. For instance he advocates restricting carbs in order to make weight and to burn body fat, I've no issue there. What he advocates however, is simply eating them at a different time of the day and never mixing protein and carbs in the same meal. In other words, he'll suggest eating a steak with a bit of salad and then an hour later eating some rice.

On top of that he also says you should never drink water with a meal as it ruins digestion. He advocates waiting an hour after eating anything before drinking fluid.

Now all the lads are hanging on his every word and practice this weird, staggering approach to eating various components of a meal. Is there anything to this kind of stuff or am I just being contrary?

Transform · 08-04-2014 11:19am

simple answer - is it improving performance and are the guys looking a feeling better for it?

FTA69 · 08-04-2014 11:29am

Definitely. The question is whether this is down to his unusual dietary advice or the fact the simple fact they're training every day and eating good food.

chinacup · 08-04-2014 12:06pm

It often fascinates me how seeming genius people and successful people can build their success on complete quack. Some examples: Hugh hefner eats absolute crap and still has the brain to be an excellent business man, Linus Pauling one of the most prolific minds of his time became obsessed with vitamin C towards the end of his life and said it cured all sorts of dieases under the sun. He refused to accept that huge amounts were proven to be damaging and cause prostate cancer. Ironically both he and his wife on the vitamin C diet died of cancer, him with prostate. Steve Jobs insisted on alternative cancer treatment methods when conventional medicine could have saved him. Don't get me wrong I'm all for holistic and alternative methods (I've just finsished a night course on holistic nutrition) but only when they work. Not by placebo but by actually working! One of the presidents, not sure which one, died from blood letting... Incredible smart people can be very easily led sometimes. Its like they don't think they can be wrong. I don't know, the mind boggles.

Alf Veedersane · 08-04-2014 12:15pm

You've to bear in mind that he was in his prime in the late 80s and nutritional advice in sports has moved on a hell of a lot since then. But the advice he's doling out is what worked for him back then. Yeah, it might sound mental 25 or so years later but he didn't pull the like of not drinking water with food out of thin air. There's are plenty of people that will tell you to avoid drinking water with food because it it dilutes the HCl in the stomach and slows digestion.

If that's one piece of advice is the basis for calling his advice 'mental', then it seems a bit harsh.

FTA69 · 08-04-2014 1:34pm

Honestly mate I'm not trying to have a pop at the guy at all, I've nothing but respect from him and I do consider it a privilege to have a fella like that try and teach me something about a sport I love. Similarly the "mental" thing is more tongue in cheek. I posted this to basically discover if there is anything at all to what he is saying or is it broscience etc. Boxing is a great sport, but I know coaches who still advocate going running in heavy boots and tell people to avoid lifting weights at all costs.

I was more curious as to find out whether there was a big difference in whether carbs and proteins were "mixed" in a meal, I know the Gracies advocate a similar thing.

draiochtanois · 08-04-2014 1:40pm

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draiochtanois · 08-04-2014 1:41pm

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generic2012 · 08-04-2014 2:28pm

draiochtanois wrote: »

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I think the main reasons are; it results in a tendency to wash down large pieces of food that would otherwise have to be chewed which will take longer to digest; and because it will generally result in eating faster because of less chewing and because food is less appealing dry. So overall water could result in more food being consumed.

It's all nonsense based on the premise that digestion takes place over minutes/a few hours rather than the reality of days. See pre and post workout nutrition, the anabolic window, starvation mode etc.

TimeToShine · 08-04-2014 4:49pm

arf91 wrote: »

It often fascinates me how seeming genius people and successful people can build their success on complete quack.

None of it is quack. All of the right nutrients are going in, just at different times. It doesn't make a difference if you eat your carbs an hour after your steak or if you drink your 4 litres of water an hour away from each meal. In fact, on the water point I would almost argue that it helps people trying to put weight on. Basically a keto diet with strange meal timing. What's the problem?

As said above, he's using what works for him which is fair, the young lads should probably do a bit of their own research as well though.

chinacup · 08-04-2014 6:11pm

TimeToShine wrote: »

None of it is quack. All of the right nutrients are going in, just at different times. It doesn't make a difference if you eat your carbs an hour after your steak or if you drink your 4 litres of water an hour away from each meal. In fact, on the water point I would almost argue that it helps people trying to put weight on. Basically a keto diet with strange meal timing. What's the problem?

As said above, he's using what works for him which is fair, the young lads should probably do a bit of their own research as well though.

I'm not saying everything this particular trainer does is quack I'm just pointing out the fact that some of the most successful people will have strange habits- sometimes it is quack (for want of a better word).

dor843088 · 09-04-2014 8:53am

I was attracted in here by the title and I wasnt disappointed . Mental indeed.

Mental Nutrition Advice

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