In Today's Read

• The missing piece in my performance journey: Nutrition and lessons learned the hard way.
• Key solutions for common fitness struggles like low energy, soreness, and joint pain.
• Practical tips on optimising recovery, building strength, and staying energised all day.

After 18 years of competitive rugby, I was always trying to build off each season. I soon realised I was still missing one big piece of the performance puzzle:

Nutrition.

For a long time, I thought I knew food and supplements. My father was a provincial powerlifter and rugby player, I played rugby at a professional level, and I’ve been around the gym since I was 12.

But, I was naive. I’ll admit I was misled and lazy when it came to fact-checking my beliefs about nutrition.

I remember one specific time in high school. I was no longer the biggest kid on the field and needed to find a new edge to stand out. I took the advice of someone who wasn’t a pro, wasn’t in shape, and, to top it off, was intoxicated.

“Just eat a lot. You’re young, your metabolism is fast, so if you train hard, your body will turn all those calories into muscle.”

At 18, I envied the guys smashing white bread peanut butter and jam sandwiches every day, guilt-free. Deep down, I knew this guy didn’t know what he was talking about. But my own eating habits hadn’t gotten me the results I wanted, so I thought, “Why not?”

I went all in on the advice - smashing those sandwiches guilt-free.

That only lasted so long. Soon enough, here’s what I looked like:

Overweight and far from a peak-performing rugby player. And this was me, heading into my junior contract straight out of high school. Funny enough, I was put into a squad that they called the "fat squad". We had to wake up earlier to do extra work to lose the excess fat.

It wasn’t until recently that I started diving into performance-based nutrition. Not as an expert, but as a guy who just wants to go further, faster, and better.

Here’s a crash course on the nutrition solutions I’ve found for common performance struggles:

Losing Energy Throughout the Day

Working out hard is great, but it sucks when you drag yourself to the gym after a long day at work. Physically, you’re lethargic, and mentally, you’re drained. Workouts should feel challenging but still enjoyable.

Solution: Carbs like rice and potatoes help provide steady energy, allowing your body to perform consistently. Healthy fats are also valuable but are best eaten outside of pre-workout meals. They’re a slow-burning fuel that helps stabilize blood sugar and prevent crashes throughout the day.

Tip: Have healthy fats at any time, except right before a workout.

Inconsistent Workout Endurance

It’s great to feel pumped at the start of a workout. But when that energy vanishes 15 minutes in, it feels like torture. It’s a mental exercise, sure, but not sustainable if you’re feeling like this in 80% of your workouts.

Solution: Avoid eating fats with carbs right before a workout. Fats slow digestion, which delays the absorption of carbs—your quick energy source for exercise.

Muscle Cramps During or After Exercise

So now you’re pumped, performing well, getting a good sweat in, and everything’s on point—until your muscles start cramping to the beat of the music.

Solution: Potassium can prevent and help with cramps. It’s an electrolyte that helps muscles contract and relax properly. Electrolytes get lost through sweat, making your muscles more prone to cramps from dehydration.

Think of cramps as involuntary muscle contractions. Your muscle just isn’t firing like it should.

Struggling with Muscle Soreness After Workouts

You had a solid workout - great strength, endurance, no issues. But now you’re feeling sore and wondering if you’ll be able to hit your next session. Just putting on your workout shoes feels like a chore.

Solution: Protein is our friend here. Protein provides the amino acids our muscles need for recovery, reducing soreness and speeding up the process. Getting enough protein daily is what really counts. Don’t overcomplicate it.

For educational purposes: Eating protein before a workout helps keep amino acids available in the blood to support muscle protein synthesis. Protein synthesis is the process of amino acids turning into actual muscle, which helps prevent muscle breakdown during long or intense sessions.

Recovery may peak after a workout, but there’s no harm in having amino acids on standby.

Again, don't worry about the before and after debate.

My focus? Hitting my daily protein target.

Rule of thumb: 1g of protein per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 180 lbs, aim for 180g of protein daily.

Persistent Inflammation Slowing Down Recovery

You’re working out well, sleeping decently, but still dealing with muscle and joint pain that’s limiting your range. Inflammation is normal-it’s the body’s protective response for muscle repair and growth.

Solution: Think of inflammation as a small fire to clear out the debris. But if you don’t put out each fire before the next one, it can turn into a bigger problem: chronic inflammation.

Because joints get less blood flow than muscles, it takes longer to clear inflammation from the joints. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids are essential for managing this. Our bodies don’t produce these naturally, so they have to come from food or supplements. Omega-3 reduces inflammation, while omega-6 promotes it. Ideally, we should aim for a 4:1 ratio (Omega-6: Omega-3), but many of us are closer to 10:1 or even higher.

Tip: Get Omega-3s from salmon, tuna, and cod-liver oil. Too much omega-6, and you risk chronic inflammation; too much omega-3, and you don’t have enough inflammation for proper repair.

Feeling Weak or Lacking Strength

The worst feeling is going hard in one workout, only to find yourself too weak to lift well the next time. It’s like fighting off a nightmare villain with no strength.

Solution: Creatine. Whether you’re a man or woman, 5g of creatine daily supports strength and muscle maintenance. There are also major brain benefits. This one’s at the top of my supplement list.

Difficulty Getting Restful Sleep

Magnesium promotes relaxation by calming the nervous system. It’s linked to GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). GABA is a neurotransmitter that helps ease tension, stress, and anxiety.

Tip: Taking magnesium before bed helps us fall asleep and stay asleep, giving our bodies a better chance to recover.

There’s a bit of science behind this, but bottom line: the more we understand our body, the better we can manage it.

Summary:

• Need more energy: Eat more easy-to-digest carbs (rice, potatoes).
• Want better endurance in your workout: Eat carbs and avoid fats before.
• Cramping: Eat potassium-rich foods & replenish electrolytes (bananas or coconut water).
• Feeling sore & not recovering 100%: Ensure you’re hitting your daily protein target and getting restful sleep. Magnesium can help.
• Chronic inflammation: Get Omega-3s to balance Omega-6s.
• Feeling weak: Take 5g of creatine daily.

Performing at our peak doesn’t mean going pro or sacrificing a social life. It’s about getting the most out of our bodies with the least friction.

Small decisions go a long way.

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We win when we win together.