Boxers shown the ropes in new training kitchen

Remember what it was like when you first moved out of home and could no longer rely on your parents to prepare your meals?

Now imagine being an aspiring elite athlete who needs to make sure they fuel their body correctly and plan meals around their training and competition schedule.

To help equip young athletes with the skills they need at this important stage in their lives, our Performance Nutrition team has turned an old office space within the National Centre into an Athlete Training Kitchen.

The new facility provides the team with a professional space in which to educate athletes about the right types of meals which are appropriate to their training and lifestyle needs, and how to cook them.

Athletes will also be shown how to adapt food options to meet their training needs (e.g. rest day vs moderate training vs day of competition) as well as how to budget and plan a week’s worth of meals.

Boxers Garan Croft and Ioan Croft, who were recently selected to the GB podium squad up in Sheffield, were the first athletes to receive a session in the new kitchen earlier this month. 

Eoghan Hickey, Acting Lead Performance Nutritionist, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to offer this additional service to help with athletes’ all-round development. And it’s not just the cooking side of it – the ability to plan your meals properly is equally important as it helps you save time, save money, reduces food waste and also frees up brain space!”

Here are Eoghan’s top tips when planning your own meals....
- Keep it simple
- Make it enjoyable
- Make it convenient
- Try something new

Please contact the performance nutrition team if you’d like to find out more about the new Athlete Training Kitchen.